We’ve watched him demean the service of my Senate colleague, saying, “He’s not a war hero. We’ve watched him mock, cruelly mock a journalist’s disability. We’ve watched him try to get laughs at other people’s expense, try to incite fear at a time we need to inspire courage, try to rise in the polls by dragging our national conversation into the gutter. This is the reason why I am so motivated in this election, because I believe this election is a referendum on who best embodies the leadership we need to go far together.ĭonald Trump is not that leader. It’s an African saying, and it says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” This is the understanding of love that’s embodied in one of my favorite savings. Tolerance says I’m just going to stomach your right to be different, that if you disappear from the face of the Earth, I’m no better or worse off.īut love - love knows that every American has worth and value, that no matter what their background, no matter what their race or religion or sexual orientation, love, love recognizes that we need each other, that we as a nation are better together, that when we are divided we are weak, we decline, yet when we are united, we are strong, when we are indivisible, we are invincible. It says that we must - to make this nation work, we must mutually pledge to each other our lives and our fortunes and our sacred honor. That’s why that last line in the Declaration of Independence says it so clearly. We are not called to be a nation of tolerance. Let me tell you, we cannot devolve into our - to a nation where our highest aspirations are that we just tolerate each other. Now, we don’t always have to agree, but we must be there for each other, we must empower each other, we must find the common ground, and we must build bridges across our differences to pursue the common good. But you can’t love your country without loving your countrymen and your countrywomen. We did that together.Īnd so this is the high call of patriotism. Rugged individualism didn’t map the human genome. But rugged individualism didn’t defeat the British. Look, I respect and value the ideals of individualism and self- reliance. They knew that if this country was to survive and thrive, we had to make an unusual and extraordinary commitment to each other. In this city, our founders put forth a Declaration of Independence, but let me tell you, they also made a historic declaration of interdependence. And today, no matter who you are - rich or poor, Asian or white, man or woman, gay or straight, any religion or none at all - you are entitled to the full rights and responsibilities of citizenship. But our founders, in their genius, in this, the oldest constitutional democracy on the planet Earth, they put forth the idea that all are created equal, that we have inalienable rights.Īnd I’m so proud that upon this faithful foundation that we built a great nation. Our nation wasn’t founded because we all look alike or prayed alike or descended from the same family tree. Generations of heroic Americans have made our nation more inclusive, more expansive, and more just. In fact, I believe we are an even greater nation, not because we started perfect, but because every generation has successfully labored to make us a more perfect union. And women were not mentioned at all.īut those facts and ugly parts of our history don’t distract from our nation’s greatness. Black Americans were fractions of human beings. Native Americans were referred to as savages. They were saddled with the imperfections and even the bigotry of the past. But our founding documents weren’t genius because they were perfect. Now, looking back to our history, looking back to our history, our founding fathers put forth founding documents that were indeed genius. Our purpose is not like theirs, to start a great nation, but to ensure that we continue in the best of our traditions, and with humble homage to generations of patriots before, we put forth two great Americans, our nominees for president and vice president, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine. Today, we gather here again in this city, in this city of brotherly love, to reaffirm our values before our nation and the whole world. Two hundred and forty years ago, our forefathers gathered in this very city and they declared before the world that we would be a free and independent nation.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |