How stupid is Patrick “Kit” Healy?

The end of an era: Patrick “Kit” Healy simpers today about—what else?—body language. Apparently, Dowd wasn’t quite dumb enough for the Times. So they went out and bought themselves this:

HEALY (9/26/08): However forceful and passionate Mr. Obama can be, his speeches and public appearances this week have underscored how he is sometimes out of sync with the visceral anger of Americans who are losing their jobs and homes. He often talks about growing up on food stamps and about having paid off his student loans only recently, yet his tone and volume, body language, facial expressions and words convey a certain distance from the ache that many voters feel.

See there? Obama’s facial expressions “convey a certain distance from the ache that many voters feel.” He is “sometimes out of sync” with their visceral anger. Where does Healy obtain such feathered distinctions? They come to him in silly dreams!

Magnanimously, we might have skipped Healy’s blather today. Except for his very next graf, which announces the end of an era:

HEALY (continuing directly): “People want presidents who lead and relate to them—they don’t want presidents who analyze and seem above it all,” said G. Terry Madonna, a pollster and director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa. “Obama still comes across as dispassionate to the point of coolness. He is so comfortable in his own skin, he can be hard to connect with for people who are struggling.”

He may be too comfortable in his own skin! Truly, the end of an era!