Reclaiming America

[H2O Man]

{1} "I know you are asking today, ‘How long will it take?’ I come to say to you this afternoon however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth pressed to earth will rise again.
How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever.
How long? Not long, because you still reap what you so.
How long? Not long. Because the arm of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice."
--Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.; March 25, 1965.

This is one of my favorite passages from Martin Luther King, Jr. This quote is from the speech he gave in front of the capitol building in Montgomery, at the end of the march which began at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Those were difficult days, but at the end of the march, King delivered the word.

It’s as true today, as it was 43 years ago.

{2} Q: What’d he like most about the job?

RFK: Every week or day he was involved in major matters that affected a lot of different people. He could have influence. It’s the Greek definition of happiness: "exercise of vital powers along the lines of excellence, and a life affording them scope." And that’s what it was. It was happiness.
--Robert Kennedy In His Own Words: The Unpublished Recollections of the Kennedy Years.

The above quote comes from the last of the series of long unpublished interviews that Robert Kennedy did in 1964, ’65, and ’67, as part of the oral history program of the John F. Kennedy Library. One of the interviewers was Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who wrote in the foreword:

"Yet, united by so many indestructible bonds, the two brothers were still different men. John Kennedy was urbane, objective, controlled, a man of reason; Robert was brusque, subjective, intense, a man of emotion. The older brother mistrusted passion; the younger trusted his emotions. John Kennedy was, in the end, a realist disguised as a romantic; Robert, a romantic disguised as a realist."

We have some unfinished business in this country. Our party is nominating a ticket which has two very different men, who offer us their ability to work on major matters that are of importance to everyone in this country who believes in a Constitutional democracy.

Watching the Democratic National Convention tonight is a great experience. Watching Senator Ted Kennedy was particularly moving, and I know that others from my generation find themselves remembering some of the leaders, such as JFK, MLK, and RFK, who helped define what was good about America.

It is also inspiring to watch and listen to some of the younger leaders, who are prepared to dedicate themselves to getting this old country back on track.

This is the most important Democratic National Convention of our era. I hope that you are all enjoying it as much as I am.

[H2O Man]

1. Round Two

I'm looking forward to tonight's events. The highlight will be, of course, Senator Hillary Clinton. The corporate media has been serving up some misinformation over the summer, about a huge divide in our party between the Clinton and the Obama camps. That lie gets exposed to the light tonight.

First, I'd like to make a brief point on the PUMA business. Senator Clinton understands that it is an operation that is being run by republicans. Surely, some frustrated democrats are among its ranks. But they are few. It actually run by republican operatives with a dual goal: to divide the democratic party in 2008, in hopes that Obama will be weakened; and with the hope of assigning blame to Senator Clinton, if Obama does lose. Ain't gonna happen.

As I've said before, in her most recent NY Senate election, Hillary Clinton won in almost every county in the state. She took the very republican counties in upstate NY (including the one I inhabit). No one has done that before. Not RFK, not Moynihan. I count numbers, and Senator Clinton not only won among democrats, Greens, and Independents -- she took a big number of republican votes. Republican women voted for her. This is why those old, dehydrated, miscellaneous republican excuses for men fear her.

Tonight, Senator Clinton is going to talk about the reality of the differences between our party, and theirs. Now, it is true that there are different branches in the democratic party. President and Senator Clinton are the leaders of a significant group of Democrats, just like Ted Kennedy is the head of the Kennedy Democrats. And tonight, Senator Clinton will be speaking for all of us, and to all of us. But I am confident that her speech will have a very pointed message directed at the republican party, as well.

And when the American public hears her tonight, I can say for sure that despite what lies the media serves up, we will see that it isn't our party that stands to lose a group of votes come November. A lot of republican women are going to be listening to Senator Clinton, and they are going to understand the truth of her message.

Things are good.

[DemReadingDU]

2. Me too! Looking forward to tonight!

Last evening, Michelle Obama was excellent. Her speech surely won over a few doubters about her husband. A great couple to be in the White House next 4 years!

And tonight Senator Clinton will also speak to unite the remaining doubters. The Democrats have a winning ticket this year with the Obamas!

But I have a sense of foreboding that the Republicans are leaving our country in a mess. There is the fallout from the Iraq war, and our economy is collapsing. What are people going to do when they lose their house because they have lost their job and have their credit cards suspended.

I am hopeful that Obama will put together a great team of people to lead us thru what befalls our country.

[Me.]

3. Never Thought I'd Ever See What I Saw Last Night

An African American woman's face up on those jumbo screens, there speaking, because her husband is running for president. Never thought I'd see that and every time the camera went to her mother, I wondered what she was thinking,

As for puma, I found it interesting yesterday to see pushback, Mathews calling them wackos, Boxer pointing out that there was only 30 of them making all the noise and chastising the media, Todd saying it was a media driven story and they might be sorry they spent so much time on those losers.

[mmonk]

4. Yes, enjoying it so far.