Keller @ Large: John Kerry's Not So Boring
BOSTON (CBS) - An advance warning – if you are prone to overreact to surprises, please take a moment to brace yourself before you read this news.
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John Kerry has told a pretty funny joke – about himself.
Yes, that John Kerry, the senator about to become secretary of state, in which position he will hopefully never attempt to tell a joke of any kind again.
In an interview – or was it a written statement? –with Mens Journal magazine about how he beats jet lag, Sen. Kerry said the following: "When I'm flying, I usually take an Ambien and listen to one of my own speeches on my iPod. I'm out in seconds."
If you have ever witnessed one of the senator's trademark speeches, artfully combining earnestness and articulateness with long-windedness and dullness, you surely realize how funny that is.
Especially the fact that, truth be told, he really doesn't need the Ambien.
But let's be honest with one another – let he who is never boring himself cast the first stone.
Now that Sen. Kerry has acknowledged his oratorical boringness and freed us to discuss it candidly, let's be fair to him and note than most politicians are boring speechmakers. When one comes along, like Reagan, Clinton, or President Obama who can at least deliver the rhetoric with some style, they stand out as gems in a pantheon of rocks.
We all have our boring moments when we talk too much about ourselves. As the comedian Will Ferrell tweeted the other day: "Please tell me more about your cold, I'm on the edge of my seat."
I'm as guilty of this as the next guy. Sometimes when I'm trying to talk to Buddy the Lab during a long walk, she seems easily distracted.
But luckily, being boring isn't a crime, or even a misdemeanor. John Kerry is having a very successful life and career despite it. And it's funny -- knowing he has a sense of humor about it makes him just a bit less boring than previously imagined.
You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. and 12:25 p.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.
