I second Kerstin’s comments wholeheartedly.  Some of the best people I know are Kerry supporters - which, of course, makes perfect sense.  After all, it’s no surprise that such an intelligent, honest, courageous public servant would attract similarly intelligent, honorable, and patriotic supporters.  It is people like John Kerry and his loyal supporters who give me hope for this country in spite of everything in this dark time for our nation.

Indeed. The KerryVision site is awesome, as are the deeply-committed volunteers who created it and are maintaining it. Terri did a good job of summarizing the sense of personal connection that they and those like them feel to the Senator and his plans/policies/positions—few, if any, modern-day politicians can hope to call on that kind of loyalty and dedication from those who choose to volunteer on his or her behalf even when there’s not a national office at stake. And I know that Mr. Kerry feels the same sense of connection to, and admiration for, these devoted online activists in return.

Thank you for reminding us, GV, about the Senator’s ability to listen, learn, consider others’ viewpoints, and not just from the lobbyists. That’s part of what makes the loss in 2004 so difficult, but all of us engaged so thoroughly in helping him, still.

Especially when power has been so concentrated in the Executive Branch, the Senator is proving we still have a co-equal branch representing us in Congress. Speaking up, moving legislation, he does it with the concerns and cooperation of ‘We, the people.’

He has activist roots in starting Earth Day, ending wars, so this reaching out to the netroots completes the circle. He’s also kind, decent and very funny. Who knew?

Yes, it’s certainly time to celebrate the Vision, Terri.  In my latest email to the Australian leader of the opposition who will, we hope, be our PM by Christmas, I suggested that he needs a blog.  And he does.  He reads all his emails and responds personally, apologising for it taking so long.  It seems that as opposition leader he doesn’t get much staff to help with it. 

Volunteers in every aspect of life are valuable and deserve to be celebrated.

GV, I have seen quite a few of your very poignant pieces.  You have a real gift for taking the most expressive photo and matching it with perfect lyrics and melody.  I get very teary when I see them.  Congratulations.

Terri, I agree with your comments about Kerryvision. This new site is wonderful as it will be a new means to get the “real” information out there. The media plays favorites and expects perks. This site may play favorites, but it does so out of loyalty and respect for a great senator and good man. As a supporter, I ask no more from Senator Kerry than he continue to do the outstanding job he has always done and stand up for what is right and just. Kerryvision will allow other people to become aware of this great patriot of America and its people. Only good can come of it!

7/8/07 - Four U.S. Senators were emailed in the past week due to extended residency and voter registration in CA and MI.  Flirting with homelessness sensitizes to the unrepresented plights of many of the most vulnerable and victimized of U.S. citizens.  Many of the homeless, incarcerated and disenfranchised are mentally ill and/or veterans of U.S. Armed Forces.  A recent national newspaper reported that African American men and women with children were most likely to be homeless in the U.S.  Anyway, two of the four U.S. Senators contacted, as directed by the Set A Deadline movement led by Senator Kerry at his website responded to my emails asking for support of Kerry legislation in regard to redeploying troops from Iraq with the story of SFC Jimmy Soles who responded to a care package sent after learning about anysoldier.com from the Kerry For President blog with an email saying more or less how bummed out he and his troops were after being informed that day that their deployments were extended to eighteen months.  He said this, in Afghanistan, was his third deployment with the first two served in Iraq.  He said of course he and the others would do their jobs but he was ready to quit after some seven years or more with the military at the end of this deployment.  He, a native of North Carolina or Georgia, has a fifteen year old daughter, a wife and a nine year old son at home and spent three years in Lansing, MI as a recruiter.  He wistfully regrets the lack of recruits perhaps necessitating his extended deployments.  He gave thanks for the care package that “put some smiles” on some otherwise unhappy faces.  The responses of the U.S. Senators, as requested follow:

Dear Mrs. :

Thank you for contacting me concerning the United States’ involvement in Iraq. I appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns with me.

I voted against the authorization to attack Iraq four years ago, and I will continue to fight for a bill that requires the President to begin bringing our troops home starting in 120 days. That amount of time would give the Iraqi leaders time to make the political settlements that are the only hope of ending the sectarian fighting. Setting that beginning point would also force the Iraqi leaders to face the reality that we will not be their endless security blanket.

I was disappointed when on January 10, 2007, the President announced his plan to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq. This troop escalation wrongly implies that the future of Iraq is in our military’s hands, when what is really needed is a political solution among Iraqi leaders. The President is sending the wrong message to the Iraqis by putting more American military men and women in the middle of Iraqi sectarian violence.

On March 8, 2007, I cosponsored a binding resolution (S.J.Res. 9) to pressure the Iraqi leaders to achieve a political solution by requiring the President to promptly transition the mission of U.S. forces in Iraq into a more limited and supportive role. Instead of being embroiled in a civil war, our troops would train and equip Iraqi Forces, carry out targeted counterterrorism missions, and protect U.S. and coalition personnel and infrastructure. The resolution also called for the start of a phased redeployment of U.S. forces from Iraq within 120 days, with a goal of redeploying all U.S. combat forces from Iraq by March 31 of next year, except those essential to performing the new missions. Although the resolution was defeated, I was pleased that 48 Senators, by supporting it, united behind a policy that would have changed the current open-ended commitment of U.S. forces in Iraq.

On March 27, 2007, I supported a provision in the Iraq War Supplemental Appropriations bill (H.R.1591) that was based on language in S.J.Res.9. Like S.J.Res.9, this provision required the President to commence a reduction of United States forces from Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of enactment. This reduction would not have included those forces essential for force protection, training and equipping Iraqi forces, and conducting targets counter-terrorism operations. The Senate passed the conference report of H.R.1591 on April 26th by a vote of 51-46. The House passed the same measure on April 25th. This marked the first time both Houses of Congress passed a measure in favor of withdrawing troops from Iraq. Despite this bipartisan support, on May 1st, the President chose to veto this bill, again sending the wrong message to the Iraqis.

On May 24, 2007, both the Senate and House passed the Iraq Accountability Appropriations Act (P.L.110-28). On May 25th, the President signed the bill into law. While this bill does contain a series of benchmarks for the Iraqi Government, I am concerned about the lack of consequences in the bill for failing to meet those benchmarks. Benchmarks with no consequences for failure to achieve them will not put the necessary pressure on the Iraqi leaders to reach a political settlement. Only a law requiring the reduction of our troops can accomplish this. These benchmarks are also potentially problematic because the schedule for mandatory progress reports to Congress, July 15th and September 15th, could be used as a way to forestall pressure on the Administration and Iraqi leaders since those reports are not due until after Congress is planning to consider the National Defense Authorization Bill for Fiscal Year 2008.

While I oppose the toothless benchmarks and momentum-delaying reports in P.L.110-28, I voted for this legislation because I believe we must not stop funding for our troops while they remain in harm’s way. I agree with the Iraq Study Group that continued U.S. military support for Iraq “depends on the Iraqi government’s demonstrating political will and making substantial progress toward the achievement of milestones on national reconciliation, security and governance.” It has been clear for a long time that there is no military solution in Iraq and that an Iraqi political settlement is necessary if there is a hope of ending the violence. Most telling perhaps was Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki’s acknowledgement of this essential point when he stated last November: “The crisis is political, and the ones who can stop the cycle of…bloodletting of innocents are the [Iraqi] politicians.”

It is apparent that the Iraqi leaders will realize that their future is in their hands only when they are forced into that recognition. I continue to believe that Congress must act to change course in Iraq because the Bush Administration won’t. Congress needs to force the Iraqi political leaders to accept responsibility for their country’s future. Four years of painful history have shown that the only way to accomplish that is to write into law a requirement that we reduce the numbers of U.S. troops in Iraq beginning in 120 days. I will continue my efforts to achieve this goal when the Senate considers the Defense Authorization Bill in June.

Thanks again for contacting me.

Sincerely,
Carl Levin

Dear Mrs. M.S.:

Thank you for contacting me about the war in Iraq . I appreciate hearing from you on the most important issue facing our nation today.

    In March and in April, I voted for emergency spending legislation that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq but also changed their mission to a sound one - one that would have taken our troops out of the middle of a civil war and put them into a support role, training Iraqi soldiers and police and protecting U.S. security interests in the region.

    However, President Bush would not agree to that. On May 1, 2007, the President vetoed an emergency spending bill that combined full funding for our troops with a new focus on diplomacy, a requirement to begin redeploying American forces by October 1, and a mandate for the Iraqi government to seek a political solution to the civil war in Iraq .

    The spending bill that came after President Bush’s veto did nothing more than maintain the status quo with a few words about benchmarks. On May 24, I voted against an emergency spending bill that allows the President to continue his one-man show in Iraq . I voted no because I bel ieve that Congress must make it clear to the President that our commitment in Iraq cannot be open-ended and that it is time to start working to bring our troops home. We need to redeploy our troops out of Iraq as part of a sorely needed new policy, one that emphasizes diplomatic and political methods - not military strategies - as the best way of bringing stability to Iraq.

    Since American forces went into Iraq in March 2003, more than 3,5 00 of our troops have been killed. Of those, 21 percent have been from California or based in California . Over 25,000 more have been wounded. Countless numbers of Iraqis have been killed, victims of an intensifying civil war. Furthermore, the first half of 2007 has already been deadlier than any six-month peri od since the war began more than four years ago.

    Please be assured that I will continue doing all I can to see that Congress acts boldly to bring this tragic and ill-fated war to an end. Once again, thank you for your letter and for caring deeply about this critical matter.

Barbara Boxer
United States Senator

Please visit my website at http://boxer.senate.gov

Thanks, Terri, for the great post, and to everyone for your insightful comments.  Kerryvision is a great idea, and based on what I’ve seen so far, it will be near the top of my favorite bookmarked sites.  Good work, guys!