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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Is anybody there?
Does anybody care?
Does anybody see what I see?

They want to me to quit; they say
John, give up the fight
Still to England I say
Good night, forever, good night!
For I have crossed the Rubicon
Let the bridge be burned behind me
Come what may, come what may

Commitment!

Listening to William Daniels’ stirring performance of John Adams’ song from the Sherman Edwards musical 1776 in this clip, you can hear the fireworks and clanging bells of freedom in the music. He’s singing to an empty chamber, but soon and forever, his vision of independence from tyranny will be heard by millions.

Those of us who have scanned the airwaves for any and every appearance by John Kerry over the last few years (even during the election, you had to keep a weather eye on the (more…)