This is the sort of language that inspires faith in me - even when it comes from centrist politicians who love those corporate donations: From HRC's DNC speech last night:
This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.
How do we give this country back to them?
By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.
And on that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice.
If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they're shouting after you, keep going.
Don't ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.
I've seen it in you. I've seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military -- you always keep going.
We are Americans. We're not big on quitting.
This is language that reminds us how the disempowered affect change. It asks me to believe in the power and passion of the people of the USA to recognize a crisis and work our way out of it. Of course, leadership matters. In 2001 we were confronted with a crisis and our venal leadership told us to go shopping, support a war of aggression in Iraq and shred our Constitution. Over the last thirty years, we've rode along with the lies that greed is good, America doesn't need the rest of the world, Americans don't need each other, regulation is a crime and that starving the beast is sensible social and budget policy. It's been painful to live through because of the results but also because we're so much better than that when we're asked to be. Our biggest fault is that we have to be asked.
I don't know what sort of leadership we'll get when Obama is elected in November but I know that even if he does want to change the destructive status quo, the pressure for him to maintain it will be enormous and the obstruction he will face from every corner of the establisment when he steps even an inch out of that box will be daunting and probably unprecedented. We say it all the time around here - he will need to be pushed hard from the ground with public actions to do the right thing. Luckily, there's a framework falling into place that will make that push easier. It's called the Next New Deal and I'll write more about it later.
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