I haven't been paying attention recently. What's really behind this? noone burns resources over UN ambasasador, no matter how much you disagree with him.
what's the bigger picture?
I don't know, but MA politicians have come to regard RI as a dependency or fiefdom. Ted Kennedy's son has a RI seat in the US House. So maybe Kerry is trying to influence Kennedy either through favors or challenges, or maybe he has his own favored candidate in RI. Then again, when you're married to millions, you don't count every penny.