Earlier this week, Senator Kerry addressed the Council on Foreign Relations on climate change and its effects on global security issues in the post-Kyoto era. A full transcript of his remarks and the subsequent Q&A session is posted on our site, as is an audio recording in MP3 format. Here are some selected excerpts from his presentation to the CFR:

This is the most extraordinary period of negligence, arrogance, indifference, incompetence mix of engagement with respect to world affairs to the degree that we are obviously as troubled as we have been as a nation in terms of our credibility and our leverage at any time in modern memory.

It’s been so repeated almost in these last months that you don’t have to go back through the litany of the whys and wherefores. The question is: Where are we going to go, and how are we going to get there?

And I would respectfully suggest that a great deal of that is going to be answered automatically the moment we have a new president, and it will be an unprecedented moment of opportunity to move on any numbers of fronts simultaneously that can much more rapidly than a lot of people think make up for the roads untraveled in these past years.

To some degree, there may even be a pent-up demand that, with the right creativity and the right leadership, will afford us an opportunity to do some things that you might not otherwise have been able to. And I really believe that, particularly if the outcome with respect to the Congress is also, and I hope it will be with respect to the presidency.

As we here at Team JK were celebrating the home town team winning the Big One and parading with the duck boats yesterday — including watching a certain young Mr. Papelbon doing his now-legendary “I’m too Soxy for my shirt” dance on the back of a rolling flatbed truck — our hearts and minds were especially focused on two of the bravest, strongest athletes ever to be citizens of Red Sox Nation.

One of them is stalwart Sox veteran Mike Lowell. The other is first-year superstar Jon Lester. And both men are victors in a game that is far more serious than the one that they play together in Fenway Park. As MLB.com writer Barry Bloom explains,

Mike Lowell and Jon Lester were already tied together by personal bouts with cancer. Now they are linked forever as World Series champions.

[ ... ]

A year ago, Lester, then 22 years old, was given the news that he had contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a type of blood cancer that affects the immune system. Red Sox manager Terry Francona made the announcement to the team in a somber meeting. Lester left the club and was administered with four courses of chemotherapy. By the end of the year, he had been told that he was clean and returned to the team in time for Spring Training. Now, he’s won his first World Series ring.

“This is unbelievable,” said Lester, echoing Lowell. “It’s been an up-and-down year, but this makes it all worthwhile.”

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,
And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;
But there is no joy in Mudville — mighty Casey has struck out.

When Earnest Thayer penned those lines in 1888, he wasn’t writing about the Colorado Rockies. Nor, for that matter, was he writing about the Boston Red Sox. Neither team even existed yet. The Sox didn’t come along until the beginning of the next century. And it took the Rox another 90 years after that to join the ranks of Major League Baseball teams.

But Thayer could have been describing the mood in the stands at Coors Field last night when he wrote the last stanza of “Casey at the Bat”. There was no joy in Denver — unless, of course, you count the joy in the hearts of visiting citizens of Red Sox Nation.

Never mind the pandemonium inside the Boston clubhouse — or the matching madness here at home — the fans in the stands had plenty of extra Sox-soaked joy to pass around last night themselves. As Jessica Heslam described the scene in this morning’s Boston Herald:

In an unfamiliar ballpark nearly across the country, the triumphant roar of Red Sox Nation was loud and clear as their beloved Boston team made history in Denver early today, sweeping the World Series for the second time in four seasons.

Thousands of elated Sox fans, decked out in red, white and blue from head to toe, rushed the seats behind the Sox dugout inside Coors Field, going wild for the players after the hometown team clinched the Series with a 4-3 victory over the Rockies.

As Terri pointed out in yesterday’s blog post, the socio-cultural roots of America’s Pastime tend to run deeper than what one might expect from “just another game”. Sure, baseball as we know it today is big business. There are many millions of dollars involved on all sides of the equation, from the players and management staff to the advertisers and the media conglomerates and the broadcasters and the community taxpayers who help fund the infrastructure that lies behind it all. On the level that the Red Sox and the Rockies are at right now, this so-called game is very serious stuff indeed.

But it’s also part of the ultimate American pantheon of values, right up there with the flag and the Founders and Mom’s apple pie. For whatever complicated confluence of reasons might apply — canny planning, lucky timing, masterful marketing, pop-culture veneration, wistful nostalgia for a simpler time, and/or the sheer non-modern joy of participating in something as slow-motion familiar as a nine-inning game in which nothing much seems to happen for long periods of time — from sandlot to stadium, from Little League to the big leagues, baseball in America is iconic to its very core.

Baseball’s fascination for Americans of all stars and stripes predates our own Civil War, and it has played a large part in our country’s image in the eyes of the rest of the world ever since. That’s why our de facto national historian Ken Burns thought that baseball was important enough to make it a cornerstone of his ever-evolving media portrait of what makes America, well, America.

And that’s why, well over a century since Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer first produced what should be rights be just another dated and eminently forgettable popular tune from a vanished era, we all still know the words and music to its closing choruses by heart:

Baseball memories linger. My father used to tell me about baseball players he saw when he was a kid. My Dad was actually a Boston Braves fans in his earlier years before he switched to the Red Sox. He told me once that he couldn’t help it, the Braves played better ball than the cross-town Sox. My Dad could perfectly describe the stances of all the great players he had seen, how they gripped the bat, how they shuffled their feet at the plate, tugged at a belt before settling in or how a particular pitcher went into a windup or how a player could range to field a sharply hit ball.

I watched Red Sox games with my Dad as much as I could. He was cynical about “the Sawx,” told me often to “protect my heart” and not give it away to be broken or stomped on, as used to happen with annoying regularity. Yet, for all his outward cynicism, my Dad would be there for the next game. He had that outer core of disbelief to protect an inner core that did care and did want to see “the Sawx” do it all. He told me that I would live to see better days. He was right. I felt like my Dad was there in 2004 when the Red Sox finally won it all. He had been gone for years, yet I know he was right there with me, finally admitting that it was okay to give your heart away, you didn’t need to always protect it so closely.

I watch games now with my kids. I can tell them stories about watching the great Carl Yastrzemski play, about “Big Yaz bread” and how the 1967 team electrified New England. I know what it felt like to watch Carlton Fisk hit that pop-up home run that was just barely fair in 1975, how utterly heartbreaking it was to watch that ‘78 Playoff game (Zimmer never should have started Mike Torrez, sigh, he had been a Yankees pitcher the year before) and on and on and on.

The following op-ed piece was published in The Boston-Bay State Banner on October 25, 2007.

Why Minority-Owned Media Matters

by Sens. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., and Barack Obama, D-Ill.

The bedrock of America’s greatest advances — the foundation of what we know today are defining values — was formed not by cheering on things as they were, but by taking them on and demanding change. The thoughtful exchange of diverse viewpoints not only helps guarantee our freedom as individuals, it ensures those in power can be held accountable for all that they do.

But to engage in the debates that have always made America stronger, it takes a stage and a platform for discussion — and never before have these platforms been more endangered.

In recent years, we have witnessed unprecedented consolidation in our traditional media outlets. Large mergers and corporate deals have reduced the number of voices and viewpoints in the media marketplace. At the same time, massive technological change and an explosion of Internet access have opened new avenues for information and new methods of discourse. One thing we can be sure of — change is upon us.

As we look toward the future, we must ensure that all voices in our diverse nation have the opportunity to be heard. One important way to do this is to expand the ownership stake of women-owned, minority-owned and small businesses in our media outlets.

Faneuil Hall has hosted many historic events over the years. I bet there were few as flat-out joyous as the Celebration of the Little Rock Nine that occurred last night. Seven of the nine students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas some 50 years ago graced the stage at Faneuil last night. Boston showered them with gifts and proclamations, entertained them with songs and with dance and embraced them with affection and deep respect.

It is rare to encounter dramatic historical change in human form. Yet, the assemblage at Faneuil last night was just that, living breathing, funny, personable, inspired and inspiring people who participated in events that changed America for the better. The Celebration took in the events of the past and applauded the courage and fortitude it took to resist the hatred and abuse heaped on teenaged students all those years ago. The Central High alumni were also feted for their devotion to education and their commitment to telling their story to new generations of students. Education is a precious gift that affords people the opportunity to a better life. The fight for a chance to a better education was worth it 50 years ago, as it is still worth it today.

Boston Mayor Tom Menino welcomed the Little Rock Nine with gifts of Revere Bowls, a traditional Boston gift given to commemorate courageous acts. The Massachusetts Legislative Black Caucus as well as the Boston and Cambridge City Councils gave out official proclamations to show thanks and appreciation. Senators Kennedy and Kerry, who could not attend in person because the US Senate was in session in Washington, had a Resolution adopted in the US Senate to commemorate the day:

Okay, we admit it. We live in Boston, the legendary land of the bean and the cod, and we’re series — er, I mean, serious — about our dearly beloved Red Sox here.

With the Sox going up against the Rockies for the Big One beginning with tonight’s Game 1 at Fenway Park, well-known Sox fans John Kerry and Ted Kennedy felt obliged to place a friendly little gentleman’s wager on the outcome of the Series with their esteemed colleagues from across the Great Divide:

The losing team’s state Senators must donate a state product to the charity of choice of the Senators from the championship team.

If the Red Sox win the World Series, Centennial Staters Salazar and Allard will donate Colorado-raised beef to a Massachusetts charity chosen by Senators Kerry and Kennedy.

If the Rockies win the World Series, Bay Staters Kerry and Kennedy will contribute New England clam chowder and lobster rolls to a Colorado charity chosen by Senators Salazar and Allard.

“The only thing I love more than watching the Sox beat the Yankees, will be watching them beat the Rockies to win their second World Series in four years,” Senator Kerry said.

“The Sox are the comeback kids. They’ve managed another outstanding finish, fighting their way into the World Series in typical Boston fashion by leaving us all on the edge of our seats. Now it’s time to win four more games and bring the trophy back home to Boston. We STILL believe! Go Sox!”

This article was published as an op-ed piece in the Boston Herald on 10/19/07.

When Army National Guardsman Dave Krasner returned to Boston from Iraq in 2005, he did everything right. He applied to the federal government for help keeping his consulting business afloat despite having lost clients and income while he was risking life and limb overseas.

Despite his service, Krasner was denied a small business loan. His credit took a hit due to a smaller military paycheck. After nearly two years of fighting to keep his business open, he closed it and moved to Louisiana where he’s making a living but no longer living the American dream of owning his own business.

That’s not how it’s supposed to be. After our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters put their lives on hold to serve their country and risk their lives for our national security, the least we can do is work to ensure their well being and economic security.

The Bush administration has not done nearly enough to provide a safety net for veterans and reservists who own a small business or are self-employed. What’s sorely lacking is a comprehensive, coordinated effort by federal agencies to help veterans and reservists get the business counseling, training and financial assistance they need to ensure their businesses are a success when they return.

(I posted this message a little while ago to our local area supporters by way of the BlueMassGroup blog, and I wanted to make sure it got posted to our own blog for those of you who live in the Boston area, too.)

Just wanted to drop in with an “all hands on deck” request for help.

I stopped by the Tsongas for Congress Campaign Headquarters this morning to do some phone-banking and drop off some Dunkin’ Donuts to the gang there. They’re firing on all cylinders for the final 24 hours of the race.

I don’t have to tell all of you here why Niki needs to win this race, so let me cut to the chase. I’m confident that tomorrow night Massachusetts will have a new Congresswoman.

Here comes the “but”... I think Niki is going to win, but I’m not prepared to sit back and just hope that it happens. We have 24 hours to make sure that it happens.