| Charley and I chatted yesterday for about half an hour with our junior Senator about war, wind, the web, marriage, and Alberto the Insult Comic Attorney General. Kerry rose to a passionate pitch on Iraq and the environment, but was unfortunately elusive when it came to specifics about Cape Wind, marriage, the impeachment of Gonzales, and the possible acquisition of The Wall Street Journal by Fox News. The call was arranged by new Online Communications Director Brian Young (thanks, Brian!).
"There is a pent up demand for almost every thing that matters in politics," Kerry began. He ticked off his four main priorities: end the war in Iraq (he voted No on the most recent appropriations bill, to his enormous credit, and promised another fight in a few weeks on its successor); make America more fair (he cited the increasing disparity of wealth and the cost of tuition); health care; and environmental issues (he cited climate change, depleted fisheries, and water pollution).
So far, so good, but let's see what happened when the rubber hit the road.
Cape Wind. "I'm a huge advocate of wind power. I have supported incentives for it. I will be fighting personally for larger incentives," he began. But, "I think you have to have some kind of a siting process in place that is clear, understandable, universal. You can't just have someone plunk something down wherever the hell they want. I've questioned whether this is the best location. We need a rational, national siting process. It doesn't strike me as unusual to go through the process with a fine-toothed comb. You do that for a coal fired plant, you do that for a nuclear plant. It took 10 years for Seabrook," he added. He did say that Nantucket should have more windmills. They have one of note at present, built in 1746.
Marriage. "You've gotta vote and let the chips fall where they may. You've got to make a decision," he said. That said, he added, "We lost 300,000 votes in Ohio on that issue alone. People have to be very careful on the impact." He concluded, "Clearly, Massachusetts has fared pretty well under the law." Hardly a clarion in favor of marriage.
Gonzales. "To him it's more important to uphold George Bush than to uphold the law, the truth or the Constitution," the Senator said. "They've learned how to stonewall in this administration. Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, they all stayed too long. This administration gives medals of freedom to people who don't tell the truth." Impeachment? "We're at some point going to take up a resolution in the Congress." Nature of the resolution? "No confidence." Kerry attributed the lack of urgency on Gozales to the media. "Do you see a hue and cry in the media?" he asked.
Media. So, speaking of the lapdog media, should the federal government investigate the planned purchase of the Wall Street Journal by Murdoch/Fox News? "There is concern," he said. Not much hue and cry there either, it seems to me.
What's your view of the internet? "This is an incredibly powerful liberating force for political accountability. It can connect the dots for a lot of people who don't trust the system and for whom politicians have actually become suspect validators." Kerry said a Boston-based team is building a system that will, "Partner with MoveOn, VoteVets and others in a collaborative to way to try to reach out to bloggers across the country." I look forward to seeing it.
On balance, I was impressed by Kerry as I have been for years. I am proud to have worked for his 2004 campaign. I wish, however, that he would be more aggressive. What does he have to lose? He has one of the safest seats in the country, an enormous personal fortune, and a lifetime of honor and achievement. He should put his environmental pronouncements into action by supporting Cape Wind precisely because it is in Nantucket sound; support marriage in Massachusetts precisely because it is such a fraught national issue; advocate the impeachment of Gonzales because he is such an insult; and do whatever he can to block Murdoch's expansion in this country precisely because Fox News is a platform for racists and a Republican hate machine. You love challenges, Senator: rise to those of this moment. |
