According to MassDem chairman Phil Johnston, Ted Kennedy is upset at Deval Patrick for supporting Cape Wind:
“I’m troubled by people who aren’t there for the senator in this battle,” Johnston said, in a break in his normal protocol of not getting involved in the race for governor. “It means a lot to him. I think we owe Ted Kennedy a lot for what he has done for this state, and he deserves our respect and support.”
Look, we love Teddy, but do we really owe him, say, all of Nantucket Sound? Wow, that’s a lot. No wonder he’s so effective in the Senate — the man drives a hard bargain.
(Here’s who Johnston and Kennedy should be upset at.)
Please share widely!
Is this going to be another Harshbarger situation?
One can certainly argue (and I tend to agree) that Ted Kennedy has done a world of good for Massachusetts, and even for the country. I’m glad he’s our Senator. I respect him and in general I support him. But I support his policies only insofar as I think they’re good policies, and to expect me to support policies I disagree with out of loyalty to even as distinguished and worthy a public servant as Ted Kennedy is remarkably arrogant, not to say undemocratic.
<
p>
In fact, let me emphasize that: as Senator, he is a public servant. He has done an exemplary job in that role, and we should be grateful to him for his good work, but it’s his job, and we don’t “owe” him our unconditional support for doing his job. In fact, what we owe him for doing his job is what he’s already getting: the salary, benefits, privileges, responsibilities and perquisites of that job. Or in a more moral, less legalistic sense, perhaps we owe him respect and thanks, and perhaps we owe it to him to work hard ourselves to further progressive causes and to serve the public interest, in whatever role is appropriate for our individual situations, of the Commonwealth and of the country.
<
p>
Brave, patriotic men and women in the armed forces are risking life and limb, many of them dying or returning home badly wounded, in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for that we owe them respect and gratitude, but we don’t somehow owe it to them to support the war against our own convictions. Likewise, though to be sure it’s not precisely analogous, we owe Ted Kennedy respect and gratitude, but none of us owe it to him to pretend to agree with something we actually think is a bad idea.
We the voters don’t owe Ted Kennedy anything except hearty congratulations when due, and stern criticism when due — and payment of his salary. Phil Johnson, however, I suppose, owes Ted Kennedy a lot — as no doubt do many other top executives of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. The conflation of the Party, and what is good for it, and the Commonwealth, and what is in the best interests of its population, is the sine qua non of the hackocracy and leads to corrupted statements like this one. What we do owe Ted Kennedy is a careful evaluation of his arguments against Cape Wind. So far, those sound like pandering to the wealthy and an abandonment of environmental principles when they conflict with narrow self interest.
we have already given ted something. and on this memorial day, we remember those who died making this gift possible to give.
<
p>
to ted: our vote.
<
p>
now go do your job. and best wishes..