I was bored at work today, so I spent the whole day taking a look into the future (in my own mind). The following is the speech I would love to hear from Barack Obama (whom I wish would be the Nominee) on August 28, 2008. Now, I'm not delusional enough to think Obama is about to win. I still think he'd make a better president than any of the other candidates on both sides, but campaigning is a completely different matter. And his campaign has made many mistakes, mainly that he refuses to hit Clinton hard. Anyway, the speech is not meant to be comprehensive or very specific, just supposed to be what I generally want to hear the Nominee say (save, possibly, the minority references), whoever they may be. I also wanted to buck up some of the Obama supporters out there. I have been critical of Sen. Obama, but what a lot of people obviously don't understand is that we are critical of those we love. So, without further delay:
My fellow Democrats. My fellow Americans:
Tonight, we reaffirm our belief in American Democracy and the
everlasting ability of America to renew herself in each new age. As I stood on
this stage four years ago, I told you that my presence here was
unlikely, and that only in America could such a thing be possible. That is
more true this evening than it was then. Tonight, I stand before you a
testament to the American Dream. My life has been witness to the
resiliency of the American Idea.
The American Idea burst forth in the late 18th century to a waiting
world ; the Idea was reborn in civil war; made real for women in the 19th
amendment; and baptized in the fires of the Civil Rights Movement. The
American Idea has been a beacon of hope to millions around the world
who have struggled endlessly to achieve their liberty. It is the most
successful, most important idea in the long history of human endeavors.
And though we have often faltered, we have never failed.
America has known enemies before, our Idea has been assaulted many
times. In 1776, we were threatened by timidity and apathy in the face of
monarchical tyranny. In 1861, we were threatened by the sickness that
allowed ten thousand thousand slaves to be non-citizens. In 1914, we
were threatened by a world seemingly falling apart at the seams. On
December 7, 1941, the American Idea came under assault from fascism and
Nazism, from hate and evil. And in a long, dangerous Cold War,
the American Idea, along with the world, stood at the precipice of
nuclear annihilation.
Today, our Idea is under assault again. We face a real threat from the
forces of terrorism around the world. Forces that fester and foment
in the darkest of dark places. Forces that must be confronted. How we
confront those forces is a question more important and more up for
debate than any other. If we do what is right, if we do what we must, then
we will confront those forces in an intelligent and successful way,
with every tool at our disposal.
First, we must confront these forces where it matters most--in the
hearts and minds of every child, not just in the Muslim world, but in every
nation where the insidious power of poverty and fanatical religion
might corrupt their innocent minds. To do this, we must be willing to
offer our economic assistance to nations who wish to educate their
children, not in the petty malevolence of the Madrasah, but in the wonder and
magic of the schoolhouse. In order to stave off the disaster of another
generation of desperate, wanting, impoverished fanatics, we must be
willing to help lift them from the very situations which created the
monsters we face today.
While we stave off a future disaster, we will confront those who would
bring present danger. America, in close cooperation with her allies,
will chase those who hate and maim, who stalk and murder, to the very
ends of the earth. By refocusing our efforts to where they belong, to
the struggle against fanatical terrorism, America will regain the upper
hand against the terrorists and terror organizations. And we will use
every tool in America's powerful arsenal: finance, diplomacy, law
enforcement, and yes, military if need be.
And though terrorism is a real threat, terrorism is not the end-all
threat that some make it out to be. Those of us who are Christian know
that: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
shall fear no evil..." We know that His rod and His staff are comfort to
us. And while we work hard to eradicate terror wherever it lives, we
shall not eradicate democracy in the process.
Too many on the other side believe that we need to give the terrorist
their ultimate prize in order to bring them to ultimate defeat. If we give away our
rights, then we have given the terrorists everything. Osama bin Laden, who
has run free on this administration's watch, would love nothing more
than the sight of Americans being picked up in the middle of the night;
whisked away to some secret prison, to be tormented and tortured for
crimes which they did not commit, or crimes wholly invented by the
untouchable leaders at the top of the government.
So tonight, I challenge every American: Be Not Afraid.
Be not afraid of the boogeyman the Republicans will tell you lurks
around every corner.
Be not afraid of the immigrant who lives next to you, who works the
land that feeds you; and tries, as we all do, to provide for his family,
to comfort his friend, to contribute to his society.
Be not afraid of that which awaits over the next horizon. I promise
that you and I, together, will begin the hard work of preparing our
country for every great challenge that is yet to come.
And finally, be not afraid of your fellow citizens. Those people whom
you cannot understand, whose lives are apart from your own--those are
your neighbors, your fellow Americans. Do not write them off because
they are different. Do not consign them to the margins of society
simply because it would be easy to let them linger there. Whether they be
gay, or bisexual, or lesbian, whether they be black or Latino, whether
they be poor or just unheard, these are our brothers and sisters, our
friends, our children, and do not let our lack of understanding become a
lack of empathy. And certainly do not let a lack of understanding
become a preponderance fear.
In Iraq we have to get our forces out of the tender-box into which
they've been thrown. On January 20, when I am sworn in, I will begin a
redeployment of U.S. Forces currently in Iraq. Moving as quickly as is
possible we will draw down our remaining forces over the course of 10
months to a year. We will, however, leave a residual force in the region
to be prepared for certain eventualities that may arise.
We will immediately convene a regional conference to get the help of
every willing Middle Eastern Nation to bring Iraq back from the brink.
America must be responsible in the way we leave Iraq. We cannot be as
reckless getting out as we were getting in.
Our redeployment will be rapid, but careful, massive, but safe. We
will continue to give the Iraqi government some economic assistance,
wholly dependant on their meeting of firm benchmarks. But the Iraqi people
must know this tonight: When I am commander in chief, U.S. Soldiers
and Marines will no longer have primary responsibility for holding your
country together. My warning to you: Get your house in order quickly!
To my fellow citizens of the world:
The American people have not forgotten you, even if their government
has for the last eight years. We have not forgotten the genocide in
Darfur. We have not forgotten the hopelessness in the Congo. We have not
forgotten that Europe has always been America's most steadfast ally,
and we have not forgotten that your vote counts, that your opinion is of
great import, that we are inexorably linked by common past and common
purpose.
America is but one nation among many, one voice in the chorus, one seat
at a very massive table. The world is full of America's partners,
from Johannesburg to Shanghai, from London to Bangladesh, from Caracas to
Toronto, and we will stand with you. We hope you will stand with us.
Once again to my fellow Americans, you will never be ashamed to have me
as your president.
I will represent America at her best. Diverse and still strong, proud,
yet still humble. When I stand in front of the world, they will see
America as we do: Strong, peaceful, full of possibility, full of hope.
The American Idea has lit the world for two centuries. Tonight, we
redouble our efforts to make sure it will light the world for two more.
But first, we must make the promise to light the worlds of the
millions of Americans who feel as though they have been left to fend for
themselves.
For the first time in American history, the vital heart of American
life is in decline. The Great Middle Class is receding, thanks to the
effects of bad political and economic theory--the kind of theory that says
we can cut taxes and go to war; that we can allow CEO's to make, in a
day, what many of their employees make in one year. Today, the old cliché
is alive and well: the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.
For eight years the Middle Class and the poor have been told the
economy is in excellent shape and that all the indicators are up, even as
their fortunes are down. They've been told they need not worry about the
future, that the all-powerful market would sort itself out.
When Katrina is bearing down on New Orleans, the White House assumes
everyone will hop into their SUVs to find safety. When people are on the
brink of total financial collapse and mortgages come to foreclosure,
the RNC tells people to just move to their second homes.
While the rich have received massive and unnecessary tax cuts, the
middle class and the poor have been left to wait for someone to hear them.
Well, I hear you!
In my administration, you will be defended. Corporate criminals will
be punished swiftly and to the fullest possible extent of the law.
Corporate regulation will no longer be the exception. The federal
government will do all in its formidable power to hold price gougers to
punishment, to stop predatory lending, to be the consumer's most voracious
watchdog.
In addition we will make college more affordable, so that every
American who pursues scholarly excellence will have the opportunity to build a
better life. We will work with great vigor and steadiness to make
sure that every playing field is level. We will work to lift the millions
in poverty out.
In the wealthiest country in the history of mankind, it is a crime for
children to go hungry. Thirteen million children in the United States
live in poverty--thirteen million of the people least able to cope with
the crushing realities of being poor. How can a nation with such good
and honorable people allow such a great and terrible wrong? The
answer is that we cannot. And we will not! And I promise you, as long as
there are children who suffer in this land, I will be their champion. I
will fight for them until the last.
I believe it is true that America is the last, best hope on earth. I
believe that the American Idea is destined to move forward through every
age, against every odd, over every challenge. But those of us in the
know, those of us who have read the brilliant words of our Declaration
of Independence, and our Constitution, know that America has never been
her true self yet. In order to form a more perfect union, we must
continue to move forward, to struggle against hate, to battle against
ignorance, to widen the circle of equality and opportunity.
Tonight, we have moved forward one step in that cause. Tonight, I
stand before you as the first man of color to be honored with this
challenge. Tonight, my mind turns to those forbearers upon whose shoulders I
stand. I am reminded of Crispus Attucks who took the first bullet in the
American Revolution. I am reminded of Dredd Scott and his flight for
freedom, of Frederick Douglas and his learned rebellion against a
despicable institution. I am reminded of the countless millions who longed
to be free, not just in law, but in deed as well. Tonight, I think of
Dr. King and his Dream. But mostly, I think of the millions of
children at every place in America, who see me stand here and know that
America truly is the land of opportunity. I think of the millions,
who for far too long, felt as though America would not let them in, and
tonight, they see the America that we talk about in civics classes, the
America that we advertise to the world. They know tonight that America
is theirs too.
And so, on behalf of them: My name is Barack Obama, and I accept your
nomination for the presidency of the United States.
And finally, tonight I am reminded of a poem Langston Hughes wrote long
Ago—a poem called Let America Be America Again. Hughes knew then, as we know now, that America has yet to be
it's best ideas. He knew that America had left too many behind. In the
poem, Hughes writes: "Oh yes, I say it plain/America never was America
to me/And yet, I swear this oath/America will be."
So tonight, I am truly here for those who have yet to know the best
America. You see Hughes' patriotism was of the best variety. Hughes was
a patriot who spoke for all those on the margins, all those whose
voices were too faint to echo throughout history. He understood and loved the American Idea: Hughes was a patriot who
loved America, not for what she may or may not have been at the time,
but for all that she might become.
And so, it is in that spirit tonight that I know there are those who
cry out, "America never was America to me." And to you, I swear this
oath: "AMERICA WILL BE!"
God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.