A friend of mine recently published an op-ed in our local paper which strikes so many notes I miss hearing in American politics. Drawing upon themes of civil rights and unity, it makes me cry for the days when equality and full access to justice were the focus of our national debate. If we are going to take back this nation, we need to start agressively pushing our agenda by framing debates the same way we did during the civil rights movement.
That said, I have copied the op-ed below the fold, it would make a marvelous stump speech. The original can be found here
In the Fantasy Land of George Bush's mind, all our nation needs is clear and consistent leadership, but we have seen the consequences of Bush's "firm resolve." 1.6 million jobs lost. Five million Americans deprived of health insurance. The greatest debt in the history of mankind. Yet even in the face of such disaster, Mr. Bush would have us stay this course. He would make his tax cuts permanent, and give even more "relief" to the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans.
Enron does not need another tax cut. Mr. Bush's friends in board rooms and corner offices do not need another tax cut. For four years we have taken Mr. Bush's snake oil. We have swallowed the bitter pill of tax relief, and it has cured us of our prosperity.
John Kerry will be the president of all Americans. And yes, Ken Lay will pay more taxes in a Kerry administration. President Kerry will understand that America cannot survive on credit-card debt. It must pay as it goes, and the wealthiest Americans must pay their share for a society where they can be so prosperous. President Kerry will repeal Mr. Bush's $600 billion giveaway to drug companies, and replace it with a drug plan that helps people, not Merck and Pfizer. President Kerry will reduce the deficit. He will restore sanity to our bookkeeping.
And President Kerry will never send America to war on a lie.
George Bush told us Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. That turned out not to be true, as we have learned from U.S. weapons inspector Charles Duelfer's report. George Bush told us Saddam sought yellow-cake uranium from Niger. That turned out not to be true, as Bush's entire case was rooted in forged documents. George Bush told us we would be greeted with flowers and celebrated as liberators. That turned out not to be true, as the families of more than 1,000 dead soldiers so harshly discovered. George Bush told us Saddam Hussein killed hundreds of thousands and buried them in mass graves. That turned out not to be true, as even Tony Blair has admitted more people were killed in our "shock and awe" offensive than were ever found in Saddam's graves. George Bush told us the rape and torture rooms were closed in Iraq.
Tragically, that also turned out not to be true.
John Kerry understands that George Bush's folly is an international embarrassment. He will reach out to our European allies, our Asian allies, our moderate Islamic allies and gain their help in curing Bush's mistake. Our allies understand an unstable Iraq endangers all nations, but they will not heed our call if our leader is not credible.
George Bush pays lip service to freedom and democracy. Yet he sold the nation of Iraq to Halliburton and speaks of an unwinnable war on terrorism. This war can be won, but it can be won only by a unified effort, a coalition of nations refusing to accept terror. We must not accept fear as a default state, and we must always strive for a safer, a more just and a more united humanity.
In the end, that is what this election is about. Hope vs. hopelessness. Evolution vs. complacency. Do we accept a dangerous and unjust world, or do we work like hell to fix it?
George Bush tells us we must always be at war. We must never heed our allies. He tells us the rich must be rewarded and the poor cannot be helped. John Kerry offers a different vision, a vision that sees unity even in diversity, a vision unsatisfied with the status quo.
At times history and fate meet at a single time in a single place to shape a turning point in man's unending search for freedom. Now is one of those times. Our prosperity is on the line. Our safety is on the line. Our very Constitution is on the line. And yet as I look back past Selma, past Appomattox and Lexington and Concord, I see a nation that has always strived for freedom, never been satisfied so long as its people remain shackled and always struggling to break those chains. Mr. Bush, your divisive reign is ending. The American people will not abide your fear mongering and your class warfare. And we shall overcome.