"You know, this country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that's not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that's not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that's not what keeps the world coming to our shores.
"Instead, it is that American spirit -- that American promise -- that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.
"That promise is our greatest inheritance. It's a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours -- a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.
"And it is that promise that 45 years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln's Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.
"The men and women who gathered there could've heard many things. They could've heard words of anger and discord. They could've been told to succumb to the fear and frustration of so many dreams deferred.
"But what the people heard instead -- people of every creed and color, from every walk of life -- is that in America, our destiny is inextricably linked. That together, our dreams can be one.
"'We cannot walk alone,' the preacher cried. 'And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.'
"America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise -- that American promise -- and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess."
-- Barack Obama, August 28, 2008
25 comments:
Were you so motivated and fired up that you transcribed all that? Or is the text already online somewhere?
Now what do you think?
I have hope for this one unlike any other in the past.
It made me cry last night hearing it and it makes me cry again today reading it.
I hate to say this, but I am just barely old enough to remember the "I have a Dream" speech made by Martin Luther King. This is a wonderful follow up to that speech.
Surprised you haven't posted about Schuylers first week of school. How was it????
It was fine, she's settling in. I always consider the first week to be something of a wash anyway.
I believe he is what this country needs right now; a beacon of hope to guide us through the darkness and a young family in the White House to remind this country that there are future generations at stake.
I'm sooo ready to drink the koolaid!
Now what do you think?
Well, just checking.
honestly, i do NOT follow politics. not in Canada, and certainly not in teh US. it's too depressing. but i watched that last night. and i got goosebumps. um...if you're not using that man, can we borrow him??
No way, chaos mom -- we need him a whole lot more than you do!
Come to think of it, maybe a lot of countries will be better off if he stays right here, able to effect US foreign, as well as domestic, policy. He could hardly do more damage worldwide than the current administration has.
In fact, there's every reason to believe he'll do quite the opposite. Who knew that anyone with vision and judgment could ever get this far?
Amazing. And yeah, the goosebumps . . .
Not to cause an all out battle, but the "proof will be in the pudding" so to speak...if his record holds true for what he will do in the future, his words are likely to be empty promises.
I like the return of political Rob.
I do not debate politics, largely because I find that the people who want to debate are often the most ignorant and misinformed. And those people - you're never going to change their minds.
To those who say Obama is all talk - I will listen to talk like that any day.
Amen. He is our hope.
He gives me hope. I haven't felt that way about a politician in a very long time.
I'm all for female equality, but the fact that Mccain has a woman as his VP who has so little experiance worries me and makes me wonder if he's doing it to get the would-be Clinton voters. =\ It seems low and dirty to me.
I missed a lot of his speech! I was so bummed. I got to hear a chunk of it in the ER in the wee hours of Friday morning (Appendix), but I'm so bummed I missed it all! I really liked Michele's speech, though.
Four years ago, the Democratic Party ran on a campaign of "Anyone but Bush". It seemed like John Kerry really didn't have any ideas of his own that were anything beyond "Not Bush".
Obama's speech was great, but I am worried that he really didn't have any partisan message beyond "Not Bush". His core message of change is really nothing more than that, and I was really hoping that with this speech he would finally tell america what he stands for, rather than what he is against.
I'm still waiting to hear a positive reason to vote for Obama rather than negative reasons not to vote for McCain. I hope that the Democratic Party doesn't repeat the same mistakes of four years ago.
In a very eloquent moving way what I heard was "Let's raise taxes and make the government bigger, just like President Carter. It will be free for you, that guy next door will pay for it. Oh, and don't worry about 'change', just look at my VP. He's been around for decades, so I'll have adult supervision. "
I want a reason to vote for ANYONE that isn't "Well it isn't -name-" When did this happen that we're voting for someone else because it's the lesser of two evils? I want to vote, I really do. It's my first election in which I get to vote, even though I'm 22, and I'd really like to do it.
I don't want to vote because I don't want to vote for the other guy. But I also don't want to not vote. I just feel like no matter what happens, we're screwed.
I feel like America is so downhill that we're ruining the whole world. I don't know what's going to happen to our world in the next few years, but I just don't have a good feeling. I don't mean to be negative, but I just want so badly for things to be different, but there's too many millions of people who don't.
Sorry, I didn't mean to be a typical jaded college grad, but it just makes me sad and discouraged that things are the way they are.
I'm neither Democrat nor Republican and have voted both ways in previous elections. Obama gives me hope, which is more than I can say I've had in the past elections. (I'm 46, so that's 7 elections.) I know we haven't heard from McCain and I'm a woman so I'm happy that the Republicans have finally broken that barrier in their party. Palin seemed strong in her speech, which she needed to do, but she also came across as negative and very "political" (in a bad way) last night. No matter which candidate gave that speech (man or woman), I would have had to turn the channel. It disgusted me. She could have been strong without doing it that way.
I weep at the thought that he might not win.
And of course, if the american people want to regain ANY respect from the rest of the world, you go for this guy. McCain/Palin? Don't you dare...
Sounds good, but looking pretty and sounding good aren't presidential qualities.
What has Obama ever actually done? He's never run a state or a city or even a Girl Scout cookie sale. (Actually, I may be wrong there. I understand he was instrumental in seeing that Choco-caramel-banana-raspberry-minty-mints were included as a new flavor of Girl Scout cookie to be considered in 2010.)
"This flavor represents ALL our nation's people! And as your president I will see to it that not ONLY will the minty-mints be the chosen flavor' um, I mean people! Chocolate! Carmel! banana and raspberry people will be honored for their contributions to our society!"
Obama's speechifying won't mean bugger-all when the feces hit the cooling system. But he sure do look pretty and he warms the cockles of a lot of misguided hearts.
Please see the sentence at the bottom of the page, the part that says "Don't be an assmonkey."
And then, you know, don't.
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