Lileks:

"Go back and get the file footage," said John Kerry.

He was on "Good Morning America," sorting out whether he threw over the White House fence his medals, his ribbons, someone else's medals, someone else's ribbons, or a combination of the above mixed with some Cracker Jack prizes. How to clear things up? In a peeved and hectoring voice, Kerry told the interviewer to "go back and get the file footage."

Hmm. This would be the film of a grim, long-faced young man with ultra-'70s hair hurling some symbols of military honor at the White House. That's the sort of image the opposition usually puts in the October negative ads. Particularly when the nation is at war and soldiers are in vogue.

Kerry wants us all to see it in prime time. He seems to think it's something we want in a president.

It would impress those who abhor American power, who think that Vietnam turned into Sunny Candyland the moment the United States got out and let Ho Chi Minh's minions poke everyone into the camps. But it reminds others that once we cut and run -- and that guys like Kerry were there with the scissors and track shoes.

Few would hold his medal toss against him today; his record as a senator and a presidential candidate is much more pertinent. People do things in their 20s they later repudiate. But Kerry is one of those people who hasn't changed his mind much in 30-plus years. The 60-year-old senator and the 27-year-old war vet getting his first taste of the sweet juice of national publicity -- same guy.

Kerry is getting creamed over this issue, and for no good reason. His campaign is heading straight into the shitter. I suppose we'll see more of this soon:

With the air gushing out of John Kerry's balloon, it may be only a matter of time until political insiders in Washington face the dread reality that the junior senator from Massachusetts doesn't have what it takes to win and has got to go. As arrogant and out of it as the Democratic political establishment is, even these pols know the party's got to have someone to run against George Bush. They can't exactly expect the president to self-destruct into thin air.

With growing issues over his wealth (which makes fellow plutocrat Bush seem a charity case by comparison), the miasma over his medals and ribbons (or ribbons and medals), his uninspiring record in the Senate (yes war, no war), and wishy-washy efforts to mimic Bill Clinton's triangulation gimmickry (the protractor factor), Kerry sinks day by day. The pros all know that the candidate who starts each morning by having to explain himself is a goner.

Geez, when even the ultra-liberal Village Voice calls you out of the race, things are really bad.