Kerry tells Yale grads to keep faith in government

[IDemo]

Source: Associated Press


NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry urged Yale University graduates on Sunday to keep faith in government's ability to break gridlock, even as many problems remain unsolved.

Kerry, a 1966 graduate of Yale, told students and their families, faculty and staff at the Ivy League school's 313th commencement that some people don't believe they can make a difference "and the sum difference of all of this is that we do not believe we can make a difference . we remain gridlocked."

Over the years, Congress has enacted broad legislation protecting the environment and civil rights, said Kerry, a former U.S. senator from Massachusetts. But, he said, the need to reform immigration and grapple with climate change now remain undone.

"This daring journey of progress played out over years or decades," he said. "Today, the felt needs are piling up while legislatures or foreign capitals seem frozen."


Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/wire/nation/kerry-tells-yale-grads-to-keep-faith-in-government/article_17854f3e-e1f1-5577-b046-f2dcc4350755.html

[grasswire]

1. according to what I read yesterday in the Yale alum magazine...

....most Yale grads now major in financial services. Way more of them than any other major.

[scarletwoman]

2. Great. Because what we really need are more hedge fund managers.

[grasswire]

8. yes, I found it terribly terribly sad. nt

[billhicks76]

3. Hoodwinked

Maybe they should major in hoodwinking, deflection, conflation, misdirection, obfuscation and bamboozlement while being elitist secret society brothers like Kerry was with Bush in Skull & Bones.

[dawn frenzy adams]

4. HA!

Oh no Kerry. I live in Ohio. There were attorneys here with overwhelming evidence that the 2004 presidential election was stolen. They were waiting for your instructions. You did nothing!

Listen Democratic Undergrounders, as long as I live, I will never forget what went down in Ohio in 2000 & 2004. In 2004, I was volunteering with Move On to help get out the vote. It rained that entire day. It was an ugly day. You just had the feeling something evil was going on. And it was. People were given the wrong polling places. They were made to stand in the rain. My own brother told me he voted for Kerry and the vote changed to Bush, before his eyes. When I got home that night, I watched the returns. When they prepare to steal an election, they'll stop posting the results. This can go on for 90 minutes. When they start to post again, the vote is flipped in favor toward the Republicans.

In 2000, I voted on a large Diebold Machine. Normally at each candidates name, there is a blinking light. When you push the button next to the candidates name ,the light will stop blinking. However, when I went into the booth, there were no blinking lights. The votes had already been programmed on that machine. My heart fell rapidly to my feet. I didn't feel rage. It was sadness. It was though some stranger had inappropriately touched me. It was just so disappointing and painful.

John Kerry did eventually show up in Ohio, several months later. There was standing room only. The crowd was comprised of disenfranchise voters. One man told Kerry that he stood in line for7 hours. He did not get to cast his vote. It was the first time he had missed voting in 30 years. His plight went right over Kerry's head.

When I hear Kerry tout about Democracy in the Ukraine, it makes me sick. We do not have democracy here. Don't think the Republicans didn't try in 2008. They have never stop stealing elections. I will be writing Mr. Kerry, and reminding him what he did not do for government. You should too!

[mazzarro]

10. Wow! this is the first time I have read of someone's first hand experience in rethug vote riggings

And I must not fail to say that I despise the third way democrats that continue to preach the timid Democratic party's approach in dealing with this issue.

[karynnj]

12. If you think the voter's plight "went right over Kerry's head", you completely have no understanding

of who he is. His brother, Cam, within a month of the election did put out a statement for the campaign that spoke of the suppression of the vote through many things -- most notably by placing too few voting machines in Democratic strongholds. Kerry himself spoke of these same issues when the renewal of the Rosa Parks voting act (sponsored by Senator Boxer) came to a vote. He enumerated the many things done in Ohio and elsewhere.

The fact though is that he did not have the votes - actually cast - in Ohio to challenge the state's vote. Even the RFK jr analysis relied on things like the estimate of votes NOT CAST due to this and other voter suppression. This is reasonable for an ANALYSIS. It is not useful for challenging the vote as no court will look at votes not cast. (Just as NO ONE suggested a valid statistical analysis or even a census of all the Palm County voters asking who they thought (or intended) to vote for.)

The fact is the American system which can deal with minor miscounts, really does not deal with out right fraud. Consider what happened in the 2002 NH election, It was proven that the Republicans effectively shut down the Manchester get out the vote by spanning their phones. The court case was in 2006 - FOUR YEARS later. People went to jail, but no one suggested that it invalidated the election and that Sununu needed to step down.

I saw the photos of election day 2004, where Kerry was completely elated that he was likely winning. I also saw the devastation on his daughters' faces, and the tear Teresa wiped away on his face while he was conceding. No one wanted him to win more than he did himself. Remember that he was out campaigning in Iowa only months after a cancer operation, working himself to exhaustion. Remember that he risked his home by mortgaging his half to loan his campaign the money it needed.

In reality, the electors must be picked in December. Even if it were possible to prove voter suppression, that alone would not have given Kerry the state. Nor would it have led to a new election. In fact. from the discussion around FL in 2000, if the election were called moot, the selection of the electors would fall to the legislature --- which was Republican controlled.

It is very likely that the Republicans stole two elections in a row. My guess is that this is so far outside how most Americans see their country that this will likely not be taught as fact for decades -- if then.

In 2005, Kerry started an effort to help the Democrats win 2006. One of the first steps was to give the DNC, where Dean was the new head, millions of dollars - as well as the DSC and the DCCC. In addition, he continued to use his own list to try to get people to look forward and to fight for Democrats. One thing Dean did was to spend a huge amount of money to revitalize the state parties and to fund candidates everywhere. Had the former been done in 2001 --- Kerry would have become President in 2005. A strong Ohio party would have had people in place that would have seen that the state was assigning fewer voting machines in all inner cities than they had in the primaries - which were late enough that they could not have changed the nominee! If ONE person had noticed this even a couple of days before the election, the campaign could have fought this and likely prevented those lines.

Another thing to look at is that the DLC wing of the Democratic party had really not gone out of its way to support Kerry. Consider Carville arguing after Kerry had the nomination mathematically sewn up, that the convention might opt for "someone else". Consider that the media was more hostile to Kerry than any previous main party candidate. They essentially condoned a character assignation - ignoring that it was NOT what Kerry said vs what the SBVT said, but the official Navy record vs the SBVT. In addition, they also attempted to destroy Teresa Heinz Kerry's reputation. Why consider this? It gives a reality check on what support Kerry could have gotten from either the party or the media. Remember that within weeks, Clinton was saying positive things about Bush at the opening of his Little Rock library. All Kerry could have done was to destroy himself, removing a strong Democratic voice.

[MBS]

15. Thank you so much for this account

Last edited Mon May 19, 2014, 04:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Your spot-on account of the DLC-type Dems, and their lack of support (sometimes bordering on sabotage) of Kerry's 2004 campaign serves as a good example of just how many people do not have a good understanding of who Kerry is. Though many DU commenters seem enamored of the (incorrect!) mem that Kerry "is a DLCer", and, yes, Kerry was initially on paper supposedly part of the DLC, in fact he had long ago left the DLC and DLC colleagues behind, way before his 2004 campaign: in fact, as you said, the DLC types were and are AGAINST Kerry . Really, the behavior of many establishment (DLC) Dems in 2004 was shameful (not to mention tragically counter-productive), as your account points out so memorably.

Thanks also for your account of the difficult situation in Ohio. At a book signing in 2006 (actually, 2007: see karynnnj correction in her reply below-mbs), Teresa Heinz Kerry said pretty bluntly that the 2004 election was stolen. (You were there, too: am I remembering this correctly?). They were prepared for problems in Ohio, and an army of lawyers was put into place in anticipation of Issues there. The problem was: what could be done about the election problems -- especially, as you said, because most of the problem involved people not being allowed to vote -- in time for the electoral college vote. Thanks for pointing out the very real political and logistic constraints (posed by the Ohio Republicans as well as the DLC) that made it basically impossible to fight it.

If either Sec. Kerry or Teresa write their memoirs, it will be interesting to see what they have to say about the darker side of the 2004 campaign.

[mylye2222]

18. I think if they doo it it would be EXPLOSIVE!!!!

And they will be RIGHT!!!!

Do some posters here know that the PURE HARRASSMENT AND BULLYING Kerry faced trough DECADES are, due to Genevas refugee convention, a PERFECT REASON OF OBTAINING REFUGGEE STATUS IN ANOTHER COUNTRY!!!!!

I never saw a pol beeing so ABUSED AND DEMONIZED. Now folks, stop BUYING ALL THAT STINKY NIXON STYLE CRAP!!!!!!!

[karynnj]

21. I was there with you at the book signing - I think in very early 2007

I think it was the first one they had for it. In addition, Teresa all but said the same thing when speaking in 2008 at the Boston after election party. Not to mention, there was a reason Cam Kerry led the lawyers in 2008 (I don't think he did in 2004) in Ohio - as noted by both John and Teresa Kerry.

I doubt there are any two people I would more like to read memoirs from. Both have quietly done much good -- and both refrain from attacking others far more than most people.

Teresa is likely one of the most underrated people in this country. One thing that strikes me about John Kerry is that he is more at peace with himself than any other American leader of today than I can think of. Look at the photo in the link to the speech. I was told years ago that the face you have when young, God gives you -- the face you have when old shows who you are.

[mylye2222]

22. Some posters NEED TO REWATCH THIS.

Rewatch and listens to that speech. I never had know more selfness politician as John Kerry.....

[CTyankee]

35. My son in law is a Dem political consultant in Boston who did some focus groups

in Wisconsin for the 2004 Kerry campaign. He mentioned how very negative voters there were about Teresa. I figured that there was some real xenophobia afoot, and I had a sinking feeling about how some American voters view a potential first lady who is an immigrant and speaks with an accent. I wonder how Jeb Bush's wife, Columba, would fare with the voters...interesting question...

[mylye2222]

54. Yes. Do you also remember how MSM planted this xenophobia feeling not only on

Teresa
But it was obvious that, even over the facts of the whole speaking-with-accent thing, they also just couldnt bear get a FLOTUS from abroad origins AND outspoken woman. That was, and this is a French observer who speaks, the nastiest campaing I have ever seen. It has realy stinky relents of McCartism, Nixonian dirtiness, xenophobic, integrist, fear using, far right way of practicing politics, all in the same time and box!

[CTyankee]

55. very true, but I still wonder how Columba might fare with these voters...

My son in law, who is a strong Dem, also saw a strong sentiment against Teresa because they saw here as abrasive...I kinds did too, but I repressed those feelings...he said he had one encounter with her and it was not good...

I dunno, I am not in a position to say, one way or the other...

[mylye2222]

56. Maybe she was just tired, or had smg wrong just before she met your son

in law? Everyone is sometimes in bad mood, even Presidents, and potential candidates and FLOTUS. But I do agree that, since meeting high office candidates is so rare for us MS people, that, of course its very frustrating when the person you expected to meet and the one you supports, is on bad mood and therefore leaves you a dissapointing impression of her/himself.

[CTyankee]

61. Of course. You never can tell...but I think he's right on Teresa...she's a bit "off" to me, too....

I remember when she took John Edwards' kid's thumb out of his mouth for that photo shoot and I thought, uh oh...

[KoKo]

38. I remember this from activists in Ohio here on DU. The lawsuits...the

Last edited Tue May 20, 2014, 09:44 AM - Edit history (1)

evidence. Even Skinner who posted they were ready to do what they could when the vote looked stolen. Then he posted that it was "off" our something like that. IOWD....we were told to "Stand Down."

I remember the polling on CNN that Kerry was winning...and then the delay and the shocking news. The photos of Karl Rove gleeful ... Lots of info from that time is still probably in "DU-2" archives.

Kerry stood down. And, his behavior since has not increased my confidence that that he didn't "stand down" in that election. What a betrayal to have worked so hard for him...same as with Al Gore. In the end...something happened and they "stood down."

Thank you for the post to remind those of us here who remember. The details grow fuzzier as time passes but we shouldn't forget.

Updated:

I realize that others above feel that Kerry did everything he could and there was no time for a challenge or a way to prove that voters were given wrong information about where to vote, etc.

I still feel there's more to it than that...and after 2000 was decided by the Supreme Court we should have made sure that a stolen election would never happen again. I still feel Kerry stood down under the pressure that it would be too upsetting to the country to drag out the election results. However, that Kerry didn't fight harder to expose the discrepancies in the reporting and the tallying of votes from Diebold machines in 2004 election gives me pause in confidence that he couldn't have done more to expose that election and make it a priority in his Senatorial capacity to work with House Leaders to make sure it would never happen again. Especially after how hard activists worked with John Conyers and others to make voting reform, getting Diebold and other computer count machines with no verified paper trail out of our elections.

That effort is mostly gone..after Obama won overwhelmingly. As if everything has been corrected in our system of voting when actually things have gotten worse since 2008 with the "Citizens United" decision and Republican take over of more of our states with sweeping Gerrymandering and Koch/Alec Money Everywhere.

[merrily]

63. It rained in Massachusetts, too. And lines were long here, too. I assumed it was because (A) Boston

voters wanted to make sure to dump Bush and (B) Kerry was the state's favorite son (for that year).

[MBS]

5. Commenters here should watch or read the ACTUAL SPEECH

which was both funny and thoughtful, instead of rerunning tired old memes.
Do yourself a favor and listen to Sec. Kerry directly.

Here's the transcript (h/t to mylye2222):
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/05/226268.htm

and the video (starts with the students introducing him, and they're worth watching too)

[dawn frenzy adams]

6. Sorry!

Unless, he is explaining why he turned this country over to that Fake Cowboy and his Psychopathic Vice-President, I don't want to listen.

[karynnj]

13. He fought for over two years to become President himself

He did this with less than the full support of the Democrats. Do you honestly think that Carville did not know how damaging his constant reference to Kerry as just "anybody but Bush was? I doubt he did not realize that that language ONLY made sense in a primary - where he had to have heard it as Anybody but Clinton in 1992. In the general election, it is entirely normal that a large part of the electorate is almost certain to vote for their preferred party. The point at which, Carville, then one of the most prominent Democrats on TV did this, was after Kerry had EASILY sewn up the nomination.

The norm at that point - in either party - was for everyone to move to support the nominee. In 1992, Clinton had not been my first choice - Tsongus was. Even though I had misgivings about his environmental record and was disgusted by the entire Genifer Flowers nonsense, I read his book - found things that I could admire and agree with and moved to support him positively. I didn't do much -- I was working full time and had three little girls, aged 7, 5 and 2, but when I could I made the effort to communicate the GOOD things about him. It would not have been hard for Carville to have done this in 2004 - rather than just bashing Bush. (In fact, as he made SCHIP a big issue for HRC in 2008, why didn't he quote Kennedy in 2004 on Kerry's role in writing the precursor bill with him in 1995/1996 and his work co-sponsoring the Kennedy/Hatch bill that became law? Clearly this was a big deal -- and he was aware it was in 2008, why was it so uninteresting in 2004?

Then there was the media. I will never understand what happened to the broadcast media in 2004 -- though the treatment of Dan Rather may give a clue. Both John and Teresa Kerry were treated worse than any major party nominee before or after them. In all past elections, all three networks put together little puff piece biographies for each nominee before the convention. In general, they cast the facts of the life as leading to possibly being President as a reasonable result -- yes even with GWB! Kerry, a war hero, eloquent anti-war advocate, outstanding prosecutor, a lt governor who led on the issue of acid rain in the NE governor's association, and a Senator with both the best lifetime environmental record AND the reputation from his willingness to fight the powers that be in both parties to close BCCI, OBL's bank, and as the Senator who exposed the illegal arming of the Contras. In his case, you don't need to even add in family - like a mother, who was helping as a nurse in Paris escaping on a bike as the Nazis invaded or a father who was a test pilot and then a diplomat.

Not to mention Teresa. In 2009, as Obama hosted the G8 in Pittsburgh, there were articles that explained why the former steel town had become one of the greenest towns in the country. The person most responsible --- Teresa. In addition, her work and money resulted not just in "greenest". The article spoke of the fact that in the mid 1990s, several Pittsburgh philanthropists coordinated their efforts to revitalize Pittsburgh - essentially a successful non-governmental stimulus project. The person who initiated this - Teresa. Yet in 2004, the media ignored this -- and even ignored that she was well respected enough on the environment, that GHWB appointed her to the NGO part of the Rio conference, where she met Kerry, who she had been introduced to years before by her first husband when they jointly headed the Senate's earth day activities.

In fact, it is pretty amazing that Kerry won the nomination with less media support than many of his competitors. He was essentially ignored - or almost ridiculed - until he surprised everyone except the Iowa press by winning 38% of the caucus vote. (This surprise win was actually stepped on by the media giving more attention to ridiculing Dean, who had earned a disappointing 18%. While many here argue that that ridicule was to destroy Dean, it also did change the story away from the surprise victory of Kerry.) In fact, after Kerry won NH, the news magazines all covered ... John Edwards, the "Sunny" alternative. Their intent was blatant -- the next states, which Dean said he would not actively contest - working instead on later more promising states were mostly states where the Centrist (he had not yet morphed into the 2012 JE) Southerner needed to win if he were to win the nomination. None of the states - as Dean noted - were good for a New Englander. When Kerry won MO, ND, NM, AZ, and DE; JE won only SC and Clark won OK (where his and Edwards' numbers rounded to 30 and Kerry to 28), the media called it good for Kerry and Edwards. The media was incredibly slow to give Kerry the credit he was due. From there onward, Kerry lost just Vt, where there was a vote to honor Dean, who had already withdrawn and the NC caucus that voted for Edwards. Compare this to Romney, McCain or Clinton's primary wins -- Kerry was the front runner from the first election until no one else could mathematically win.

The media hurt Kerry in many ways - they made it hard to get the message out. They played games with the SBVT liars. They corrected any Bush mistakes and they parsed every Kerry comment in the most damaging way possible. That they attacked him because he was verbose - even though it was simply conditioning any statement to insure it was 100% accurate!

[MBS]

16. I agree with this account 100%.

thanks for putting the facts out there.

[mylye2222]

17. Yes. Enough of all this crap thrown at Kerry!!!!!!

[Cali_Democrat]

25. ...

[mylye2222]

27. Yes.......

[davidpdx]

9. No, it's much easier for them to scream and foam at the mouth about Kerry being evil

and 666 tattooed on his forehead.

Thank you for posting it though. I will try to watch at least part of it.

I remember where I was almost 10 years ago when he lost the presidential election. It was devastating.

[CTyankee]

36. I liked his speech a lot. There's some "inside" jokes...reference to "JE" is

reference to Jonathan Edwards, his residential college at Yale, so he did a bit of playing to the audience. But mostly it was a fine, intelligent speech, delivered well. I loved seeing him giving it and watched the whole thing.

[MBS]

39. thanks

I liked it a lot, too, for just the reasons you said. Thanks also for the translation of "JE" for us non-Yalies. : ) (I did dope it out eventually, but it took awhile).

[CTyankee]

43. not a yalie here but I have lived in New Haven since 1985 and have some friends who are.

We are huge fans of Yale football and live pretty close to the Bowl. Ivy League football is kind of lame compared to the Big Ten but the traditions associated with the games, particularly The Game (as the Harvard-Yale game is traditionally called) which is played at the Bowl every other year. The fun part of Yale football is the Yale Precision Marching Band, which takes particular delight in spoofing college marching bands at half time.

[blkmusclmachine]

7. Hey, JK, do you remember "Swiftboat Veterans For Truth"?!?!

JK, telling the 1% not to lose "faith" in its corrupt gov't. How ... "rich."

[mylye2222]

23. Your post is really hurtfull.

[Corey_Baker08]

57. Get Over Yourself, Secretary Kerry Has Given Us A Lifetime Of Service

[mylye2222]

58. Thanks to you Corey!

Everytime some posters see the word " Kerry" on any board, here comes an incredible need of them to......spit crappy nonsense statements. It's so bizarre It could almost be an interesting subject of psychiatric research. Clearly they like better to stay ignorant and stick to planted rumours......

[Corey_Baker08]

59. Has This Country Lost All Civility & Respect for Public Servants?

Secretary of State John F Kerry has dedicated his entire life fighting for the American people, the 99% not the 1%. Kerry has done more for the Democratic Party than anyone wants to give him credit for.

Yes, he did graduate from Yale, but after graduation what did Secretary Kerry do? Did he go to Wall Street and make billions? The answer to that of course is no, in fact the very opposite. John Kerry had the courage & the conviction to stand up and speak out about injustices at home and abroad. He made a decision at a very early age that he was going to stand up and fight for the Democratic Party & the Democratic ideals that we all champion.

To all of you who hold a grudge about Secretary Kerry's lack of response to the swift boat bullshit makes you no better than the people who created those ads.

John F Kerry is my hero, and I mean that, I have so much respect for him as a person, as a politician, and now as the top Diplomat of the United States, and I truly believe he will continue fighting for equality & justice and the values that we as Democrats believe in, much like the late Senator Ted Kennedy, literally until the day he dies...

[mylye2222]

60. Maybe not completly. They just like to have their regulat targets.

Its avoid to those people to exhaust themselfs with doing some research. More simple to listen to MSM crap.

[MBS]

62. +1000 n/t

[bemildred]

11. Right. "The corporations need your protection." nt

[mylye2222]

26. Some posters here need also to see how smear 2004 had lead to this beyond cruel comments.

From Kerry's twitter account.

John Kerry ‏@JohnKerry 19h

I was hungry after #Yale2014 Class Day ceremonies - picked up a few pies to go on my way out! pic.twitter.com/HNUkafztRl

and responses like "I hope the cook had spit into your food"

[Nihil]

33. "Leave Kerry alone!!!!"

[mylye2222]

34. as said some posters above.

DU is full of libertariens and lefties one who are just stuck on their blind nelief in rumours.... Sad to not be able to express uourself sometimes without be given back childish sarcasm.

[Nihil]

37. Speaking of childish ...

> "Reply I think if they doo it it would be EXPLOSIVE!!!!"
> "PURE HARRASSMENT AND BULLYING Kerry faced trough DECADES"
> "I never saw a pol beeing so ABUSED AND DEMONIZED. Now folks, stop BUYING ALL THAT STINKY NIXON STYLE CRAP!!!!!!!"
> "Rewatch and listens to that speech. I never had know more selfness politician as John Kerry..... "
> "Your post is really hurtfull."
> "he was so inpassionated on the LONE FIGHTERTS"
> "Plase folks!!! STOP THAT KERRY ATTACKS AND ABUSE."
> "DU is full of libertariens and lefties one who are just stuck on their blind nelief in rumours"
> "Sad to not be able to express uourself sometimes without be given back childish sarcasm."

Not so much "sarcasm" but definitely "childish".

If you think that you are presenting a mature & grown-up defence with the above,
that picture is even more appropriate than ever.

[blm]

45. Nihil - she is French and doesn't speak or write in exact English.

A more mature person would have noticed that.

[Nihil]

46. If that had been in her profile, I might have noticed it and allowed for it ...

... and, if that is the case, I apologise to her for interpreting her use of her
non-primary language as simply being illiterate (as are so many posters).

I agree that posting in a foreign language brings its own challenges and
would have allowed for that.


> A more mature person would have noticed that.

Screw you

[blm]

47. You labeled her as being 'childish' and I gave it back to you.

When you hurl, expect that there may be some backsplash.

[mylye2222]

48. txs to blm

Thanks to you blm.

The facr is and its really upsets me to have often also to justify about this is thqr not only im Esl but I have aldo a eyes disabilities thats mzkes that when i types fasts i cannot see the proper touchs sometimes. Both when using a computer or on phone. And thats is some points that cost me a lot in life such as a job.

So now I dont want to play the victim but otherwise its sad that it seems i have tu justify myself and uncover personaly disruptive facts of mine.....

So what do you choose.

Attack me again or if you think of beeing less childish than le trying just to be more tolerant toward fellows DUers.

The second option is obviously the best dont you think?

[MBS]

19. one of my favorite bits of this speech

Those on this thread who continue to dismiss Sec Kerry as "skull and bones" and related ridiculous Republican-talking-point caricatures, are simply, and apparently willfully, not paying attention, or are terminally stunted and blinded by cynicism, a quality, not coincidentally, that Sec. Kerry takes particularly to task in this Yale address. I for one am impressed and grateful that Sec. Kerry has managed to keep cynicism at bay, and his hope and idealism alive, for 50 years, and, against all political odds, continues to fight to make the world a better place.

(from the transcript, http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/05/226268.htm):
The bold highlights are mine.

That’s what makes me certain that felt needs are not just problems. They are opportunities. And I am convinced if you are willing to challenge the conventional wisdom, which you should be after this education, you can avoid the dangerous byproducts of indifference, hopelessness, and my least favorite: cynicism. It is indifference that says our problems are so great, let’s not even try. We have to reject that. It’s hopelessness that says that our best days are behind us. I couldn’t disagree more. It’s cynicism that says we’re powerless to effect real change, and that the era of American leadership is over. I don’t believe that for a second, and neither does President Obama. We refuse to limit our vision of the possibilities for our country, and so should you. Together we have to all refuse to accept the downsizing of America’s role in a very complicated world.

I happen to love T.S. Eliot’s "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” one of my favorite poems. And I respectfully challenge you to never wind up fretfully musing as Prufrock did: “Do I dare disturb the universe? In a minute there is time for decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.” Class of 2014: Your job is to disturb the universe. You have to reject the notion that the problems are too big and too complicated so don’t wade in. You don’t have the luxury of just checking out. And it doesn’t matter what profession you wind up in, what community you live in, where you are, what you’re doing, you do not have that luxury.

One of the greatest rewards of being Secretary of State is getting to see with my own eyes how much good news there actually is in the world – how many good people there are out there every single day courageously fighting back. The truth is that everywhere I go I see or hear about an extraordinary number of individual acts of courage and bravery, all of which defy the odds – all by people who simply refuse to give up, and who start with a lot less opportunity than you do.You can see this in the lonely human rights activist who struggles against tyranny and against a dictator until they are defeated. You see it in the democracy activist who goes to jail trying to ensure an election is free and transparent. You see it in the civil rights lawyer who suffers scorn and isolation for standing against bigotry, racism, and intolerance.I am literally in awe of the courage that ordinary, anonymous people demonstrate in the most difficult circumstances imaginable – in a dank African jail, a North Korean gulag, a prison in Syria or Central Asia, facing the cruelest persecution and lonely isolation. Many of these people just quietly disappear. They lose their lives. They never become an international cause or a global hero. Courage is not a strong enough word for what they do every day, and all of us need to think about that. What all these people have in common – and what I hope they have in common with you – is that they refuse to be complacent and indifferent to what is going on around them or to what should be going on around them.

[mylye2222]

20. Amen, MBS.

One day we will together EXPOSE ALL THOSE KERRY HARASSMENT!!!!!!!!

[GeorgeGist]

24. Someday they might own ...

a politician; thanks to John Roberts, Jr. et al.

[valerief]

28. It's easy for Yale grads to have faith in govt. They're the 1%. Govt is made for them. nt

[CTyankee]

51. That is not true any more. Some are but many are not.

I live in New Haven and know several Yalies who are still here. They are not wealthy. Also, since Kerry graduated, there have been women and more minorities admitted in an effort to equalize the Yale population. You really have to get up to speed on what has happened with the elite Ivy schools in the last 30 years or so...it has really changed...

[mylye2222]

52. I enjoyed this post.

I was thinking the same , but didn't knew how to explain it, not enough sources. The same has happened in the last decades in France's most prized elite colleges. A lot with affirmative action policies.Too.

[CTyankee]

53. The Ivies were charged with changing their policies on affirmative action...

and then on women being admitted as undergraduates...it was a big deal. There was a sea change of thinking, thanks to the upheaval in social change and feminism in the 60s and70s.

It's good.

[bobthedrummer]

29. What government, Mr. Kerry?

[trof]

30. Keep faith in a rigged game?

Reminds me of the old story of the addicted gambler who repeatedly lost in a rigged crap game.

"You KNOW the gamed is crooked. Why do you keep playing?"
"Hey, it's the only game in town."


Yes, I've become a cynical old bastard.

[mylye2222]

31. Indeed it was not a reason to bash Kerry.

Although I can relate in some points people didn't trust govt. But there are successful policies. Ex: gay marriage, civil right progresss, health care. And you have policies and people. And John Kerry's history shows clearly he was always for open government. He fought corruption lonely for years in the Senate. And if he was a crook, as some impled, trust me, he would have ben both supported by DLC and ended POTUS.

[trof]

32. Not 'bashing' the individual, 'bashing' the corrupt system we have now.

And I really don't like the term 'bashing'.
You know the game is rigged.
Our two-party system makes damn sure that no third (or fourth or fifth) party will have a ghost of a shot at gaining any modicum of power.

Dems hate repugs and repugs hate dems, but they always will present a united front against any 'upstarts'.

[geek tragedy]

41. government is always going to be flawed and partially corrupt,

but it only becomes irredeemable when people give up on it

[mylye2222]

42. exact point. and every nation

Hasalso his good comming from gouvernement. Otherwise its going tio be anarchy. And anarchy leads to ecinomic social and politic permanent instability.
Btw. Not only covernment is partially corrupted. Firms too. Even sport world.
The fact is citizen have to inform themselves read... and keeps on touch witch whats happens in power. Convince trough action to make govt and institutions be at less corrupted as poddible. Expose corruption facts gives way to debate and research of solutions.

[alarimer]

49. That game is rigged in the Yalies favor and they know it.

Silver-spoon trust fund babies, most of them.

[mylye2222]

50. You know, there is good and bad in every circles.

You can be a silver-sponn born, AND compationate
You can be a poor guy AND a jerk too....

[geek tragedy]

40. This thread = why it's a very good thing DU is not representative

of the Democratic party.

What a barf-fest of liberatarian and crank-tastic nonsense.

Because of course John Kerry just shrugged his shoulders over Ohio, because he really didn't have anything at stake, other than becoming fucking President.

[mylye2222]

44. Txs for this good setting contribution.

You helped me a lot.