The Boston Globe - 23.08.2019

FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2019 The Boston Globe Opinion A

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Markey’s Senate seat

couldbea musicalchair

Letters should be written exclusively to the Globe and

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editing. Letters to the Editor, The Boston Globe, 1 Exchange

Pl, Ste 201, Boston, MA 02109-2132; [email protected]

Asa senator, Kennedywouldbe

powerfulvoice onnationalstage

Re “It’s the people’s seat, Joe Kennedy” by Joan Vennochi

(Opinion, Aug. 20): In my view, a Senate primary pitting

Representative Joseph P. Kennedy III and incumbentEd-

ward J. Markey is about giving the voters of Massachusetts

a choice. I agree that indeed this is the people’s seat, and

that the people will decide, at the polls, who they think

would better serve themin the US Senate.

CongressmanKennedy should not be handed the Senate

seat because of his last name, but he shouldnot reflexively

be burdened by his name either. I encourage him to run,

and I would vote for him if he does. I support him not

because of his ancestry, but rather because of his hardwork

on behalf of his constituents and his progressive leadership

on issues that are important to me — health care,

combating the opioid crisis, and engaging on the crisis at

the borders, to name a few.

Equally important to me: Kennedy has a unique ability

to elevate issues dynamically in the national arena in a way

that I have not seen in Senator Markey. Kennedy’s

passionate, progressive, and powerful voice is needed now

in the Senate to counter the vitriol of majority leader Mitch

McConnell.

ALBERT J. ONETO

Boston

Democrats’ battleshouldbewith

GOP, not eachother

The one issue I have not seen in articles and commentary

about Joseph P. KennedyIII’s possible challenge to Senator

Edward J. Markey in 2020is that it would divert resources

from the presidential race as well as key Senate races in

other states. The workof local activists, and donations

from many Massachusetts residents, in support of taking

back the Senate and presidency would be reducedat a

critical time.

We must win back Democratic control in order to enact

legislation to clean up the environment and to provide

health care to all, to oppose racism, to welcomeimmi-

grants,to make sure we do not lose the right to vote, and

more. We are faced with a serious crisis; our democracy

might cease to exist if the Republicans maintain control.

Here is what I wouldsay to Kennedy:You are a good

person, and a progressive representative. This is not about

you; it is about the survival of our nation. Consider the

greater good, and please do not run for the Senate now.

BILLDAIN

Newtonville

Many reasonsKennedyshouldstay

put,withsomuchinplay for 2020

Joe Kennedy should not challenge Ed Markey for the

Senate seat this year. Markey has beena longtime

supporter of, and articulate voicefor, the kinds of liberal

causes most Massachusetts votersapprove of. But thereare

other good reasons Kennedy should stay in the House.

Right now the House of Representatives is the center of

powerfor the Democratic Party in the federal government.

Kennedy has a strong voicethere and is an important link,

at 38, between the leadershipand the young insurgents.If

the Senate remains in Republican hands after the 2020

election, Kennedy, if he defeated Markey, would be a very

junior member, with little influence in a minority party.

It is also possible that if a Democrat is elected president

next year, and it is not Elizabeth Warren, she could be in

line for a Cabinet post. This is not inconceivable, since

Warren has always appearedto be someone who would like

to get things done rather than be just an oppositional voice.

That would free up a Senate seat for which Kennedyand

any number of other ambitious Democrats could run

without causing undoturmoil within the party.

The Ayanna Pressley comparison doesn’t fit here

because she challenged an incumbent for a House seat in a

district whose voter composition had changed greatly over

the years. A Senate seat is different becauseit is a statewide

election.

SAM KAFRISSEN

Arlington

This is an open letter to the current occupant of the White

House (“Trumpsees ‘disloyalty’ in Democratic Jews,” Page

A6, Aug. 21):

I am an American Jew. To put it plainer, I am an

American citizen who happensto be Jewish. I do not pay

Israeli taxes. I do not vote in Israeli elections. I do not

serve in the Israeli military. I have nothing to do with

Israel. That said, Israel’s existence and safety are things I

care about. That’s why I hate you and your fellow

Republicans,as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu: I don’t think any of you caresat all about

Israel’s existence or safety. If you did, you would pressure

Israel on its human rights abuses and provocative

settlement building, and force that nation we feed by the

billions of dollars to pursue a two-state solution.

That’s why I vote for Democrats. You say that makes

me disloyal. Who are you to say how I’m supposed to vote

and what my vote means?

But let’s just say, for rhetorical fun, that I am disloyal

to Israel. I would rather be disloyal to Israel than loyal to

the National Rifle Association. I would rather be disloyal

to Israel than loyal to big business. I would rather be

disloyal to Israel than loyal to the oil companies.I would

rather be disloyal to Israel than loyal to Netanyahu,

Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un. I would rather be

disloyal to Israel than allow you to destroy this country

one more day.

JASONM. RUBIN

Malden

Anopenletter to Trumpfrom

anAmericanJewishvoter

ByJeffreySamet

A

medical institution getting federal
money to conduct a study is nor-
mally the kind of news that
blooms and fades faster than
spring’s cherry blossoms.
There’s the usual one-day “hooray for our
team” kind of coverage and then the re-
searchersandphysiciansretreattotheirof-
fices and labs until maybe someone, some-
day, takes notice when the study’s results are
published, typically years later.
If you thought the publicity around Bos-
ton Medical Center’s recent $89 million
grant to dramatically bend the curve of the
opioid crisis would follow the same unfortu-
nate pattern, it won’t, and it shouldn’t.
This grant, from the National Institute
on Drug Abuse and the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Services Administration,
called the HEALing Communities Study, has
no precedent. Withthe goal of reducing opi-
oid overdose deaths by 40 percent in three
years, it involves hospitals, and public
health and academic institutions partnering
with communities across the state, taking
everything we’ve learnedabout the opioid
epidemic to this point and applying the best
evidence-based practices and treatments to
the hardest-hit areas.
The study’s proposal, written by experts
from the Grayken Center for Addiction, is
breathtaking in its ambition, scope, and
goals. Hundreds of lives could be saved in
the 16 participating communities in Massa-
chusetts as a result of this grant; ultimately,
many more lives in other states will be saved
if new services developed by clinical innova-

tors are delivered to people who are addict-

ed to opioids.

But it will be challenging. Dr. Alex Wal-

ley, director of BMC’s Addiction Medicine

Fellowship Program, compares the effort to

the Apollo moon project, for which the goal

to land a man on the moon was announced

before the required rocket had beeninvent-

ed. If the study achieves its goals, it will be

worth the cost.

Like the Apollo

project, it will re-

quire partner-

shipsand support

from institutions

well beyond the

walls of BMC.The

Massachusetts

Department of Public Health will be a key

partner in this study, as will the pioneers,

experts, researchers, and physicians at most

of the area’s hospitals and public health and

medical schools. All of themwereeager to

help, to commit their particular talents and

data; no one has refused to join this monu-

mental, historic effort.

We look forward to working closely with

elected officials, health care organizations,

law enforcement departments, schools, and

businesses in the 16 participating communi-

ties: Brockton, Gloucester, Holyoke, Law-

rence, Lowell, North Adams, Pittsfield,

Plymouth, Salem, Springfield, Weymouth,

and related towns in Barnstable County,

Bristol County, Franklin County, Hampshire

County, and Middlesex County. We will only

succeed because of these collaborations

within these communities. In partnership,

we will work to assess the needs of each

community, and tailor how the best practic-

es can be implemented.

We hope to learn things that can then be

used as models in towns, cities, and rural ar-

eas across the country. What model of deliv-

ery of medications for opioid use disorder

works better in one community than anoth-

er? What works best to get a community to

adopt treatmentsthat they hadn’t previous-

ly adopted? What are the eco-

nomics of getting programs up

and going? This study will try

new things and evaluate them.

There’s much to offer, but there’s

also much to learn.

We invite the media to stay

involved, to dedicate ongoing

coverage to the project as it un-

folds, to keep the pressure on and hold us

accountable.

Can we really cut opioid-related deaths,

which last year numbered nearly 2,000 in

Massachusetts, by 40 percent in these com-

munities by 2022? It’s daunting, but we be-

lieve we can. We plan to pull out all stops.

We will look scrupulously at the data and to-

gether decide wherethe best opportunities

are to make progress. We will assemblethe

best team, here at Boston Medical Center, at

othermedical institutions, and in those

communities that opioid deaths continue to

devastate across the state.

It’s our moon shot. The countdownhas

begun.

Dr. Jeffrey Samet is chief of general internal

medicine and principal investigator of the

HEALing Communities Study, both at

Boston Medical Center.

A moon shot for the opioid crisis

A

dark deluge of dyspepsia vexed the
visage of the Great Trumpkin.
Something was rotten in the
state of Denmark, because
something couldn’t be gotten
from the state of Denmark.
Greenland, to be specific.
How the Great Trumpkinwantedit! Lust-
ed after it, even, so muchso that he wished
he couldjust go up and grab it by the physi-
ography, the way rulershad in times of old.
Truth be told, no one knew quite why.
As was often the case, StephenMiller,
special assistant for white supremacy, had
leapt to some conclusions. Miller had been
in his office, practicing bayonet lunges,
when the Great Trumpkin had popped in to
float the idea.
Dropping his Mauser rifle, Miller had
wipedtears of joy from his eyes.
“A place just for us caucasians. Some...
Lebensraum.”
“Some what?” The last thing the Great
Trumpkin wanted was his advisers getting
all fancy on him.
“Some living space. Just using the, um,
German term.”
WhereupontheTrumpkinhadread
him the riot act.
“No foreign languages in my
White House, you understand?”
Miller nodded, appearing sul-
len, or so the Great Trumpkin
thought, though truth be told, his
cherished aide always looked like
Torquemada halfway through a long,
unproductive torture session. Then
excitement overtook Miller again.
“We’ll call it Whitelandia,” Miller
said. “Our motto will be: ‘The Land of
White (K)nights.’ You’ll only be able to book
flights there through a secret portal on Bre-
itbart, and only with bitcoin. If anyone with
an ethnic-sounding name tries, their com-
puter will crash. And if we get asked about
it, we’ll say: ‘I know nothing.’ ”
It was a beguiling vision, certainly. The
real reason the Great Trumpkin wanted
Greenland was far simpler, however. Deep
down, he knew something the dear sweet
gullible Little Trumpkins hadn’t yet real-
ized: Notwithstanding his perpetual boast-
ing, he really hadn’t gotten much done.

But presidents who expanded the

nation’s boundaries always wentdownin

history — and had cities named after them.

Like President Houston had by adding

Texas. And President Fairbanks by buying

Alaska.

“Don’t worry, Dad, you’re already going

down in history,” Trumprincess Tiffany had

cracked.

“Act like Lindsey Graham, not John Mc-

Cain, or you’re out of my will,” the Great

Trumpkin had warned.

Tiffany’s tongue might be sharper than a

serpent’s tooth, but Eric had tried to offer

some comfort. “I know it’s not Greenland,

Dad, but Atlanta’s for sale.” He read from his

iPhone: “Find yourself in the lovely Lost

City, where each house has ocean views.

Ownit all at rock-bottom prices; every

mortgage is under water.”

Trumprincess Ivanka snatched his

phone.

“Atlantis, Eric, not Atlanta.”

“What’s the difference?”

“Atlantis is a mythical city that

supposedly sank. That’s a real estate scam.”

Acontraction that mimicked thought

furrowedEric’s brow.

“Well, maybe we could get in on the

scam.”

It had been that kind of day. Wags phon-

ing or e-mailing to say: “President Trump,

we in Absurdistan need you to lead us.” Or,

“Yursodum calling; please buy us.” Or: “Gil-

ligan here: My island’s for sale.” Newt Ging-

rich had even texted to say the moon could

be colonized for $2 billion, though the Great

Trumpkin thought maybe he was serious.

Then, after Newtie, Puti.

“HiTrumpski.Abigthankyoufortrying

to get me back in the G7. In return, I have

some territory available,and on the lovely

White Sea! You’d love it, Donald Frederick-

ovich! It’s yours at bomb-sale prices.”

The Great Trumpkin had read the daily

intelligence reports, or rather, had

summaries of them presented to him. Some-

thing had exploded up there; the radiation

meters had been chirping like crickets. But

maybe, like General Potemkin, he could

throw up somepretend towns and

take credit for establishing a new

state.

Yes, he’d be found out in the

long run, and when he was, he

knew what they’d call the

phony settlements: Faux

Trumpkin Villages.

But it might just get

him through the election.

And as someone or other

had said, in the long

run, we’re all dead.

Scot Lehigh can be

reached at

[email protected].

Follow him on Twitter

@GlobeScotLehigh.

SCOTLEHIGH

The Great Trumpkin dreams

of new territory

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