Tom Sullivan, over at Digby’s Place, points us to this magnificent YouTube video featuring Anand Giridharades who tells us how to frame our story to win the day. His summation comes in the last four minutes.
Here is my (edited for meaning, changing none of the context or content) transcription of his inspiring words:
We love the hell out of this country. People will respond like patriotism is nationalism, and it's an ugly sentiment. I definitely do not think that's how we win—running against love of country.
I would love to hear a lot of people tell about a country that was founded with incredible incandescent ideals that were so profoundly radical and good, that virtually nobody involved in their drafting could live up to them. Nobody there had the courage to be true to what they said but what they said was good and was a real break from what had come before in human history.
Every generation has fought to narrow the gap between what was said and what was true. They have succeeded, remarkably in every generation building a bigger way.
They beat back the small hearted faction who wanted to keep slavery: they lost
…who wanted to keep workers in slums. They lost
…who didn't want a safety net. They lost
…who didn't want women to vote. They lost
…who didn't want old age Insurance, they lost
…who didn't want school integration. They lost
…who didn't want environmental laws, gay rights, they lost.
In the long run, in the ongoing contest between do we build “a bigger we” or do we build a smaller we, the bigger we has crushed it again and again and again.
And I think we need to remember that we are endeavoring to do a really cool thing in this country, which is to build a country “made of the world,” a country made of all the other countries. We're trying to build a country where every kind of person from every last village on this planet can come here and realize more of their potential than they would have wherever they came from.
We don't live up to it a lot, but it is an awesome pursuit. I think we're falling on our face in this moment of backlash because we are jumping high and trying a big bold thing. I think we should start acting like what we are, which is a movement for progress that has won a lot of progress and start acting like winners and taking to the American people the case that we can push through these changes, and everybody's lives will be better. And talk through the people who are scared and build with them and with the people who are already with us a much bigger coalition for extraordinary change.
“Incredible incandescent ideals that were so profoundly radical and good, that virtually nobody involved in their drafting could live up to them.” Can you think of a better mission for “the Bigger We” of Americans to live up to Mr. Jefferson’s aspirational words? Patriotism is not nationalism. It is loving the hell out of this country, and doing the hard work of making it a place where everyone can live and thrive.