Post on the actual Perkins School event (before the BMG interview)

[whometense]

http://www.bluemassgroup.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4804

http://www.progressivepulpit.org/files/8d9464abec304d7b0fb6192611fa2979-26.html

...This event was FOR the disability community. I felt like I was crashing someone else's party in a way. But I also felt privileged to be there. The Perkins community gave me a gift of a glimpse into their lives. They didn't know it, I was irrelevant to the event which was as it should be.

What I saw in the two politicians, Sen. Kerry, and soon-to-be Gov. Patrick was a connection, a deep connection with the people in this community. They both have been involved in one way or another with the Americans With Disabilities Act. They showed a compassionate understanding of the issues, the multiple issues, faced by the people they were surrounded by. They spoke briefly from the stage with no script, Deval only minimally referring to a list of issues on the podium next to him.

Then they went onto the floor and took questions. They engaged with people face to face, wherever that face happened to be, in a chair or standing. They listened. They answered what they could. They heard what they were there to hear. It was obvious to me that this was no ordinary campaign event. I heard Deval say some of the same things I have heard him say before, but it was different here.

This was not about the donors, the debate "issues" the commercials, the necessary part of politics that wear away at candidates day after day. This was about listening, about paying attention to a community that needs the state and the government to be on their "team." This was about politics in its truest sense as the "work of the people." It was about hope. My estimation of both men kicked up a notch. I am glad I was given the gift of a glimpse of this world.

There is a reason that the motto of the Perkins School is "All We See is Possibility."

[TayTay]

1. It's nice to see the Mass Lefties taking another look

at their own Senator and seeing beyond whatever grievances they have had with him over the years to the actual person that he is.

Again, there is a reason this man was elected to the US Senate 4 times in a row, 3 of those times with contested and lively races. There's a reason why I voted for him every time his name has been in front of me on a ballot.

See that video and you know why.

[whometense]

2. I agree. It's great to see.

Long overdue, but very welcome nonetheless.