Well this was a rather interesting assignment. I went to my first political pow wow in Hudson, Ma attended by several Stow officials, our state representative Pat Walrath (who is retiring and was being honored for her service) and Stow’s Daisy Dearborn who was also honored for, I guess, being a democrat for umpteen years. Senator John Kerry was the keynote speaker. I’ve never felt so out of place in my entire life. Well, that’s somewhat of an exaggeration. I was worried I was going to be found out as a fiscal conservative and they were going to flog me or something.
Kerry was introduced with the unsurprising remarks: “All I can say is… ‘if only’.” I guess this is probably what they say when Al Gore is introduced (or probably even Dukakis or Mondale). Gee, can we not look back? Anyway, Kerry was clearly stuck in the past. He told a funny story about the photo shoot with Dukakis (see image) where you will notice that “The Duke” looks taller (we all know he’s very short) than Kerry (who is 6’4″). He also recalled his recent incident in Afghanistan in vivid detail, making me wonder if he was adding to this terrible helicopter flight in the same way that Hillary Clinton added to her “machine gun fire” story in Yugoslavia.
Anyway, all that aside, I am one of those crazy people who thinks that what we are doing in Iraq is making our country safer (this is basically John McCain’s position). John Kerry clearly doesn’t see it that way. I read my daily Stratfor reports and know that we have a definite interest as well as security concerns in all parts of the world. I believe the enemy (and I do believe we have an enemy) is bogged down over there and not bringing the war over here as a result. I think that makes my family safer. But I guess I’m crazy for thinking that, so Kerry tells me. Global politics is not about making nice with everyone. It’s a chess game with death match stakes. I say we better play the game tough or we will get royally screwed. Somehow I don’t think John Kerry would have played that way. If only…
