Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark launched his True Values
tour on Wednesday with stops before overflow crowds in Oklahoma,
New Mexico, and Arizona. Clark, who is on the air with ads and
campaigning in all of the 7 states on Tuesday, strongly denounced
Bush, the war in Iraq, and spoke about his vision for America for
all people. The theme of his speech in Tulsa was
inclusion of all people in America regardless of their race,
creed, color, gender, sexual orientation, or any other factor
That brings me to the final value I want to talk about today
- inclusion, and how we're going to bring people together.
Growing up in Little Rock, we learned about inclusion -- the hard
way. I was twelve years old when we had the integration crisis at
Central High School, when nine brave young men and women faced
down a mob to get their education and educate all of us. It took
the 101st Airborne Division to show us that fundamentally we're
all alike, and that every single person in America must be
treated equally regardless of their race, creed, color, gender,
sexual orientation, or any other factor. That's what we believed
in the United States Army. For 34 years, I served with men and
women from all backgrounds under one flag: the American flag. And
right from the beginning, I knew that our diversity is our
greatest strength, and that the wider we open our doors, the
stronger we are. That's why I've always stood up for equal
opportunity and affirmative action.
More than 120,000 service men and women are still in Iraq,
placing enormous stress on tens of thousands of families back at
home. And more than 500 have been killed -- sixteen in the last
week alone. This simply cannot go on. We need to clean up the
mess in Iraq. I've got a success strategy to do just that - to
get our soldiers home with Iraq and America standing strong, so
we can focus on the war on terrorism and the real enemy: Osama
bin Laden and the al Qaeda network. We've got to rebuild our
alliances and restore America's historic role as a leader around
the world. And we've got to give our veterans and soldiers the
care and benefits they deserve.
I know what it's like to struggle to make ends meet - and
to watch every penny you have. I didn't grow up with much. My dad
died when I was four, and he left us with less than a few months
rent. My mom took a job as a secretary just to pay the bills. We
didn't have much more when I was in the Army. For more than half
of my thirty-four years, I earned less than $50,000 a year. I
spent the summer of my fortieth birthday with my family living in
a trailer in the Mohave dessert. So I know what it's like to
struggle at the end of every month just to save a few dollars for
a rainy day. I know what it's like to drive a car with tape on
the muffler because you don't have the money to replace it. It
isn't easy. And as president, I will never, ever forget where I'm
from and who I'm for -- America's working families. They will be
at the heart of every decision I make, starting with the most
basic decisions about our economy. Because you can't take care of
your family without the opportunity to work and make a decent
wage.
Rob is the
founder and editor of the progressive news site robwire.com and is a
frequent contributor to rob.dailykos.com
and http://robnotes.blogspot.com
