It’s not another edition of Tales from the Kerryverse this time, but rather a guest post by mbk, a supporter of JK’s whom I especially honor for her own excellence. She is a keen observer of the political scene and a wonderful writer. I thank her for the opportunity to post this essay here:

HONORING EXCELLENCE, by mbk

Near the end of July, my son and I saw the delightful new film, “Ratatouille.” But that is not my story. My story is about my mental journey from “Ratatouille” to John Kerry and the troubled state of our democracy. With fresh memories of our afternoon at the movies, I read David Denby’s review of “Ratatouille” in the July 23, 2007 issue of The New Yorker with special attention.

Discussing Brad Bird, the creator of both “The Incredibles” and “Ratatouille”, Denby concluded:
At a time when many Americans have so misunderstood the ethos of democracy that they hate being outclassed by anyone, when science is disdained as dangerous and expertise as elitism, this animation artist has made two brilliant movies that unequivocally champion excellence.

I thought: BINGO. In one sentence, Denby captured the core of what’s gone wrong with our democracy today: the tragic outcomes (or “outcomes”, as I view those outcomes as fraudulent) of the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections, and the tragically misbegotten administration of George W. Bush that came to us as our booby prize; the astonishing irresponsibly shallow political reporting (or “reporting”) of the mainstream media, especially from 2000 onwards; and the substitution of yelling, game-playing, buck-passing, and finger-pointing for intelligent, thoughtful political discourse in our society generally. I thought: Denby nailed us.

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I’ve been away for the month of September, once again busy with parental care. I’ve kept up with Senator Kerry’s activities as much as possible and, as always, I’m impressed with his attention to a broad spectrum of issues, among them:

• finding a diplomatic and political solution in Iraq so that we can begin to bring our troops home safely while still pursuing an outcome of peace and stability in the region
• taking a realistic approach to the global threat of terrorism (listen to the teleconference at the link for JK’s remarks)
• mounting a spirited campaign to preserve American children’s access to health care (I noticed that President Bush was unwilling to set benchmarks for Iraqi politicians but QUITE happy to set benchmarks for SCHIP which would mean that children would have to be uninsured for a whole year of their young lives…)
• real action on climate change (support for the UN conference of world leaders this last week and a pointed challenge to the President to truly lead on this issue, which he ultimately failed to do…again) Again, audio at the first link.
• leadership on making the internet accessible and affordable for all Americans, not just those who can afford it, especially small businesses who need access in order to compete and keep our economy diverse, creative and vital

September was also the month in which another phony attack (see the Swift Boat Liars, see the “botched joke”) was mounted against Senator Kerry when a student at a University of Florida town hall meeting where he was the featured speaker was tasered by university police.

This incident, in which JK behaved with courtesy and respect to a young man bent on disrupting the event, was inflated by (more…)