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Message |
| Posted By: |
mayamania |
| Date: |
28-Jul-2004-15:27:03 |
| Subject: |
Democratic Convention |
Folks,
Given this is such a politically charged year, I would encourage you, if you have access, to check out the Democratic Convention. I've been watching the last two nights - and I have to say, I've seen some of the best speeches of my life.
On Monday night was a fired-up Al Gore and Bill Clinton. Bill lightened his speech a bit talking about the Republican tax cuts: "When I was in office, the Republicans were pretty mean to me. When I left and made money, I became part of the most important group in the world to them. At first I thought I should send them a thank you note—until I realized they were sending you the bill"
And later, he talked about the ideological division, which I thought was really insightful, "They think the role of government is to concentrate wealth and power in the hands of those who embrace their political, economic, and social views, leaving ordinary citizens to fend for themselves on matters like health care and retirement security. Since most Americans are not that far to the right, they have to portray us Democrats as unacceptable, lacking in strength and values. In other words, they need a divided America. But Americans long to be united."
Last night was Barack Obama - merely a state senator in Illinois, who is running for the Senator of Illinois(currently unopposed). He was simply amazing. One of the commentators said it is probably the best convention speech in the last quarter century and I think they were right. You can read a copy of his speech at the democratic convention website: http://www.dems2004.org/site/apps/nl/content3.asp?c=luI2LaPYG&b=125925&ct=159637
and here is one of the many great soundbites in his speech:
"For alongside our famous individualism, there’s another ingredient in the American saga.
A belief that we are connected as one people. If there’s a child on the south side of Chicago who can’t read, that matters to me, even if it’s not my child. If there’s a senior citizen somewhere who can’t pay for her prescription and has to choose between medicine and the rent, that makes my life poorer, even if it’s not my grandmother. If there’s an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties. It’s that fundamental belief—I am my brother’s keeper, I am my sisters’ keeper—that makes this country work. It’s what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. “E pluribus unum.” Out of many, one.
Yet even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America. There’s not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I’ve got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don’t like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
It was a rousing, passionate speech that made me very proud to be an American and a Democrat. Frankly, that's a feeling I haven't had in a long time.
Teresa Heinz Kerry also gave her speech last night. My favorite quote of hers was as follows: "I have a very personal feeling about how special America is, and I know how precious freedom is. It is a sacred gift, sanctified by those who have lived it and those who have died defending it. My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what some have called “opinionated,” is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish. My only hope is that, one day soon, women —who have all earned the right to their opinions— instead of being labeled opinionated, will be called smart or well-informed, just as men are."
So, in short, it has been a very moving and exciting time. There is a hope and optimism that I haven't seen for a while and hope that it carries into the elections in November.
Tonight is John Edwards, the VP pick for the Democratic ticket - tomorrow night is John Kerry, the candidate himself. I only hope their speeches will be as heartfelt and inspiring as they have been for the past two days.
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