Tuesday, March 10, 2015

About America



Listen to this speech, the whole thing. Really listen. Put aside, if you have them, your dislike of the speaker, your Foxified vision of who he is or is not, and just listen to what he says. Then consider this: who really understands America, believes in it, loves it: the man uttering the words, or those seeking to block him at every turn? The man reminding us of what America's struggles and triumphs have been, and how and through whom we got where we are, or those who'd have us believe the worst of him, who sew disrespect at every opportunity?

Who foments racial divide? The man who speaks of our history and notes our progress, who points out how far we've come and how far there is left to go, or those who'd rather not hear any of it, pretending there never was a problem or that it's all in the past?

This might be his best speech ever. It's America, distilled and explained. It ought to be taught in those history classes red-state legislatures are trying to rewrite. But, of course, it won't.

5 comments:

  1. I listened to the speech. As it happens, I also just read the letter signed by 47(!) Republican Senators to the Iranian leadership. And then the Foreign Minister's response to that letter. The contrasts are striking. The President's speech - soaring, thoughtful, delivered elegantly. The Republican letter - petty, sneering, delivered by juvenile, hyperactive, uneducated, imbeciles. The Iranian Foreign Minister's reply - calm, informed, confident. 47 Senators being schooled on the US Constitution by a foreign cabinet member. History will not look kindly on this bunch. Who loves America, indeed.

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  2. Right! Matter of fact, I just sent a column in to the local newspaper combining those exact points.

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  3. This was a fabulous speech. I agree.

    The Senators' letter is such an embarrassment.

    I've been such a naive optimist about our political system. But I'm being worn down. When will the pendulum swing? Such high hopes for the Obama presidency only to be thwarted by petty partisan idiots. Makes me sad.

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  4. Me, too. Beyond sad, really. I keep thinking that as elected Rs continue to show their true colors people will finally recoil and realize what they've done in electing them. But those that elected them aren't unhappy about it at all, I think.

    What needs to happen is the "reasonable" people, assuming there is enough of them, the ones who were too damn lazy to vote, wake up and start to care about what's happening.

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