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.

Denby’s sentence also offers for me a resolution to a paradox that causes me daily frustration, bafflement, and pain. In 2004, we had right under our noses, the best (that is , the most thoughtful, most deeply and broadly qualified, full of ideas to save the environment and extricate us from Iraq, a war hero and patriot who, for decades, has regularly put his country’s interests ahead of his own, a man of sterling character) presidential candidate I’ve seen in my adult life, the best, in fact, I’m likely ever to see. But instead we elected (or “elected”), for a second time, even after experiencing four years of his incompetence and dishonesty, the worst president (or “president”) in United States history. WHY? OK, in my opinion, John Kerry actually won, the election was stolen from him, and someday we’ll learn all the ways the votes were stolen. But the vote was still close. My question: how could the vote even have been close? How could anyone except the most incurably right-wing segment of the electorate not vote for John Kerry?

Since 2004, John Kerry has continued to fight for our country, stronger and bolder and more courageous than ever. He is a model of integrity, deeply patriotic, a man of conscience and action, everything that a politician should be. He has a sense of humor, and intelligence, and a wonderful, accomplished family that loves him, to boot. And he has not only his Band of Brothers, but a band of fiercely loyal political supporters from 2004 and beyond. And he has thoroughly earned that support. He is a man who doesn’t just talk the talk: he walks the walk. Isn’t this the kind of man we say we want? And yet there are members of the press, closed-minded bloggers of the right and left, and self-interested members of his own party who continue to describe John Kerry with petty carping, and with outright lies*.

My question is: Why do these people refuse to see this man? Why do they seem so threatened by this man? What is wrong out there?

Well, Denby again has the answer: as a country we have become afraid to appreciate, and perhaps have forgotten even how to recognize, excellence. How long has it been since I’ve heard that word in connection with American politics? Decades.

Here’s the thing: John Kerry is an excellent man and an excellent senator, and he would have been an absolutely first-rate president. He is absolutely serious about taking our country back, to get us out of Iraq, to move us forward on the environment. He is thoughtful, compassionate, and he has grit and guts.

As of now, it looks like we can’t have him as president. But if we can’t have him as president, we need at least to recognize the excellence of this man, and our good fortune that he continues to fight for our country, in the Senate and elsewhere.

Various people have speculated about how future historians will view the presidency of George W. Bush. Personally, I think the answer is a no-brainer. But I believe that the real questions of this presidency, and the ones likely to puzzle those historians as much as they have me, are these: how could the American people have let this happen to their country, to our country? Why did they elect (or “elect”) this man twice, or even tolerate him for 5 minutes, especially with two deeply qualified alternatives? Why did the press aid and abet the Bush administration for so long, and why does it continue to kow-tow to the rich, the established, and the powerful?

This is what I think: no matter who our next president will be, our country remains in danger if our citizens and our press cannot see, or refuse to see, excellence, integrity, and real leadership when it’s right there in front of them. Want to see excellence and integrity in action? Want to see real leadership? See this man. See this leader. Be grateful that Sen. Kerry is still out there, fighting for us and for our country.

If you doubt my words, or would like to know more, check out the stories here, the videos, audiotapes, speech transcripts, and blog posts at johnkerry.com, and kerry.senate.gov, and at several other non-official web sites (http://www.kerryvision.net, among others) focused on Sen. Kerry’s commitment to returning our country to its highest self.

I hope that readers and bloggers will offer here their own favorite stories and quotes, among Sen. Kerry’s speeches, initiatives and his many good deeds. But for starters, I recommend a few favorites of mine: (a) at http://www.johnkerry.com/multimedia/video, see Sen. Kerry’s highly personal Oct. 29, 2006 speech, on his cancer (around 10 minutes in), and that of his father (around 8 or 9 minutes in) and his former wife, linking his personal experiences to larger issues of health care, family values, and social responsibility. (b) At the non-official “KerryVision” blog, see the commentary and YouTube video at http://www.kerryvision.net/2007/08/jk_the_fire_fighters.html, on Sen. Kerry’s help to firefighters and their families after the disastrous 1999 Worcester, MA fire.

In the Massachusetts tourist town where I work for much of the summer, I was startled to realize one early August afternoon the number of cars who still have “Kerry for president” and “Kerry/Edwards” stickers on their cars. My count of parked cars on my 1-block Friday afternoon stroll : John Kerry stickers (3: 2 from MA, 1 from Connecticut); Kerry/Edwards (4: 3 from MA, 1 from North Carolina). Some of these were a little faded, but none had been damaged. In all but one case, the Kerry or Kerry/Edwards sticker was the only bumper sticker on the car, and they clearly were quite deliberately preserved. I saw no stickers that afternoon for 08 candidates, no stickers for Bush. So here’s my question: did stickers persist this long after earlier elections? Do those persistent stickers mean that at least some people out there know exactly what we lost? I hope the answer is yes.

A week or so later, I passed a man in a Kerry/Edwards shirt, walking his dog, on a residential street in the same summer town. We nodded at each other, in mutual understanding.

mbk

(*For latest example, consider cyberspace blather on the “taser incident”. Factual antidotes to internet misinformation are available at http://www.johnkerry.com/2007/9/19/update-and-info-on-the-uf-incident and http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/18/student.tasered/)