The Democratic Party's all-out assault on the failed _residency of George W. Bush, i.e. the Bush abomination, continued into the second night of the 2004 convention, with more powerful, haunting speeches that underscore the profound significance of the election this November. The language of these speeches are worthy of the state of national emergency, i.e. the national security, economic security and environmental security crisis..."Let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
Barak Obama (D-Illinois) on Iraq:
And as I listened to him explain why he'd enlisted, his absolute faith in our country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought this young man was all that any of us might hope for in a child. But then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us?
I thought of the 900 men and women, sons and daughters, husbands and wives, friends and neighbors, who will not be returning to their hometowns. I thought of families I had met who were struggling to get by without a loved one's full income, or whose loved ones had returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but who still lacked long-term health benefits because they were reservists.
When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.
Now let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated.
John Kerry knows this. And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe and secure.
Barak Obama (D-Illinois) on *Civil* War:
If there's an Arab-American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties.
It is that fundamental belief -- it is that fundamental belief -- I am my brother's keeper, I am my sister's keeper -- that makes this country work.
It's what allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single American family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.
Now even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes.
Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America -- there is the United States of America.
There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America -- there is the United States of America.
The pundits, the pundits like to slice and dice our country into red states and blue states; red states for Republicans, blue states for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the blue states, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the red states.
We coach Little League in the blue states and have gay friends in the red states.
There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it.
We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.
In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or do we participate in a politics of hope?
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Camelot) on National Security:
The eyes of the world were on us and the hearts of the world were with us after September 11th until this administration broke that trust.
We should have honored, not ignored, the pledges that we made.
We should have strengthened, not scorned, the alliances that won two world wars and the Cold War.
Most of all, we should have honored the principle so fundamental that our nation's founders placed it in the very first sentence of the Declaration of Independence, that America must give a decent respect to the opinions of mankind. We failed top do that in Iraq.
And more than 900 of our service men and women have already paid the ultimate price. Nearly 6,000 have been wounded in this misguided war.
The administration has alienated longtime allies.
Instead of making America more secure, they have made us less so. They have made it harder to win the real war on terrorism and the war against al Qaeda.
And none of this had to happen.
How could any president have possibly squandered the enormous goodwill that flowed to America from across the world after September 11th? Most of the world still knows what we can be, what only we can be, and they want us to be that nation again. America must be a light to the world. And under John Kerry and John Edwards that's what America will be.
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Camelot) on *Civil* War:
Across this region are burial grounds -- many so humble. You find them without intending to. You're in a town like Concord, Massachusetts, or Hancock, New Hampshire. You're visiting the old church there, and behind the chapel you find a small plot, simple stones bearing simple markers. The markers say "War of 1776."
They do not ask for attention, but they command it all the same. These are the patriots who won our freedom. These are the first Americans who enlisted in a fight for something larger than themselves, for a shared faith in the future, for a nation that was alive in their hearts, but not yet part of their world.
They and their fellow patriots won their battle, but the larger battle for freedom and justice and equality and opportunity is our battle, too, and it's never fully won.
Each new generation has to take up the cause, sometimes with weapons in hand, sometimes armed only with faith and hope, like the marches in Birmingham and Selma four decades ago.
Sometimes the fight is waged in Congress or the courts, sometimes on foreign shores, like the battle that called one of my brothers to war in the Pacific and another to die in Europe.
Now, it is our turn to take up the cause. Our struggle is not with some monarch named George who inherited the crown, although it often seems that way.
Our struggle is with the politics of fear and favoritism in our own time, in our own country. Our struggle, like so many others before, is with those who put their own narrow interest ahead of the public interest.
Teresa Heinz Kerry? Yes, she told one of Richard Scaife's "reporters" to
"shut up, and shove it," and she did not apologize in
the ensuing "US mainstream news media"
brouhaha...Bravo!...But there is so much more to her,
and to this struggle..
Teresa Heinz Kerry: I grew up in East Africa, in
Mozambique, in a land that was then under a
dictatorship. My father, a wonderful, caring man who
practiced medicine for 43 years, and who taught me how
to understand disease and wellness, only got to vote
for the first time when he was 73 years old.
That's what happens in dictatorships...
John believes in a bright future. He believes that we
can and will invent the technologies, the new
materials and the conservation methods of the future
He believes that alternative fuels will guarantee that
not only will no American boy or girl go to war
because of our dependence on foreign oil...but also
that our economy will forever become independent of
this need.
We can, and we will, create good, competitive and
sustainable jobs while still protecting the air we
breathe, the water we drink, and the health of our
children, because good environmental policy is good
economics...
And John is a fighter. He earned his medals the
old-fashioned way by putting his life on the line for
his country.
And no one will defend this nation more vigorously
than he will.
And he will always, always be first in the line of
fire.
But he also knows the importance of getting it right.
For him, the names of many friends inscribed on the
Vietnam Memorial -- that cold stone -- testify to the
awful toil exacted by leaders who mistake stubbornness
for strength.
And that is why as president my husband will not fear
disagreement or dissent. He believes that our voices
-- yours and mine -- must be the voices of freedom.
And if we do not speak, neither does she.
In America the true patriots are those who dare speak truth through power.
And the truth that we must speak now is that America
has responsibilities that it is time for us to accept
again.
With John Kerry as president, the alliances that bind
the community of nations and that truly make our
country and the world a safer place, will be
strengthened once more.
With John Kerry as president, global climate change
and other threats to the health of our planet will
begin to be reversed.
With John Kerry as president, the alliances that bind
the community of nations and that truly make our
country and the world a safer place, will be
strengthened once more...
In his first inaugural, speaking to a nation on the
eve of war, Abraham Lincoln said, "We must not be
enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not
break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot
grave to every living heart and hearth stone all over
this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the
union when again touched, as surely they will be, by
the better angels of our nature."
Today, the better angels of our nature are just
waiting to be summoned.
We only require a leader who is willing to call on
them, a leader willing to draw again the mystic cords
of our national memory and remind us of all that we as
a people, everyday leaders, can do, of all that we as
a nation stand for, and of all the immense possibility
that still lies ahead.
I think I've found that guy.
Restore the Timeline, Show Up for Democracy in 2004:
Defeat Bush (again!)
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/27/dems.teresa.transcript/index.html
Heinz Kerry advocates speaking out, taking a stand
BOSTON, Massachusetts (CNN) -- My name is Teresa Heinz
Kerry.
And by now, I hope it will come as no surprise that I
have something to say.
And tonight, as I have done throughout this campaign,
I would like to speak to you from my heart. Y a todos
los Hispanos y los Latinos...
a tous les Franco-Americain...
a tutti Italiani...
a toda a familia Portugesa e Brazileria...
and to all the continental Africans living in this
country...
and to all new Americans in our country, I invite you
to join our conversation and together with us work
toward the noblest purpose of all: a free, good and
democratic society.
I am grateful -- I am so grateful for the opportunity
to stand before you and to say a few words about my
husband, John Kerry, and why I firmly believe that he
should be the next president of the United States.
This is such a powerful moment for me. Like many other
Americans, like many of you, and like even more your
parents and grandparents, I was not born in this
country.
And as you have seen, I grew up in East Africa, in
Mozambique, in a land that was then under a
dictatorship. My father, a wonderful, caring man who
practiced medicine for 43 years, and who taught me how
to understand disease and wellness, only got to vote
for the first time when he was 73 years old.
That's what happens in dictatorships.
As a young woman, I attended Witwatersrand University
in Johannesburg, South Africa, which was then not
segregated.
But I witnessed the weight of apartheid everywhere
around me. And so with my fellow students, we marched
in the streets of Johannesburg against its extension
into higher education.
This was the late 1950s at the dawn of civil rights
marches in America. And, as history records, our
efforts in South Africa failed, and the Higher
Education Apartheid Act passed. Apartheid tightened
its ugly grips. The Sharpeville Riots followed. And
Nelson Mandela was arrested and sent to Robben Island.
I learned something then. And I believe it still.
There is a value in taking a stand, whether or not
anybody may be noticing it, and whether or not it is a
risky thing to do.
And if even those who are in danger can raise their
lonely voices, isn't it more that is required of all
of us, in this land where liberty had her birth?
I have a very personal feeling about how special
America is, and I know how precious freedom is. It is
a sacred gift, sanctified by those who have lived it
and those who have died defending it.
My right to speak my mind, to have a voice, to be what
some have called "opinionated"...
is a right I deeply and profoundly cherish.
And my only hope is that one day soon, My only hope is
that, one day soon, women, who have all earned their
right to their opinions...
instead of being labeled opinionated will be called
smart and well informed, just like men.
Tonight I want to remember my mother's warmth,
generosity, wisdom and hopefulness, and thank her for
all the sacrifices she made on our behalf, like so
many other mothers.
And this evening, I want to acknowledge and honor the
women of this world whose wise voices for much too
long have been excluded and discounted.
It is time -- it is time for the world to hear women's
voices in full and at last.
In the past year, I have been privileged to meet with
Americans all across this land. They voiced many
different concerns, but one they all share was about
America's role in the world, what we want this great
country of ours to stand for.
To me, one of the best faces America has ever
projected is the face of a Peace Corps volunteer.
That face symbolizes this country: young, curious,
brimming with idealism and hope, and a real, honest
compassion.
Those young people convey an idea of America that is
all about heart, creativity, generosity and
confidence, a practical, can-do sense, and a big, big
smile.
For many generations of people around this globe, that
is what America has represented: a symbol of hope, a
beacon brightly lit by the optimism of its people,
people coming from all over the world.
Americans believed that they could know all there is
to know, build all there is to build, break down any
barrier, tear down any wall. We sent men to the moon.
And when that was not far enough, we sent Galileo to
Jupiter, we sent Cassini to Saturn, and Hubble to
touch the very edges of the universe in the very dawn
of time.
Americans showed the world what can happen when people
believe in amazing possibilities. And that, for me, is
the spirit of America, the America you and I are
working for in this election.
It is the America that people all across this nation
want to restore, from Iowa to California...
from Florida to Michigan...
and from Washington state to my home of Pennsylvania.
It is the America the world wants to see: shining,
hopeful, and bright once again. And that is the
America that my husband John Kerry wants to lead.
John believes in a bright future. He believes that we
can and will invent the technologies, the new
materials and the conservation methods of the future
He believes that alternative fuels will guarantee that
not only will no American boy or girl go to war
because of our dependence on foreign oil...
but also that our economy will forever become
independent of this need.
We can, and we will, create good, competitive and
sustainable jobs while still protecting the air we
breathe, the water we drink, and the health of our
children, because good environmental policy is good
economics.
John believes that we can and we will give every
family and every child access to affordable health
care, a good education and the tools to become
self-reliant.
And John believes that we must and we should recognize
the immense value of the caregivers in our country,
those women and men who nurture and care for children,
for elderly parents, for family members in need. These
are the people who build and support our most valuable
assets, our families.
Isn't it time -- isn't it time that we begin working
to give parents more opportunity to be with their
children, and wouldn't it be wonderful for parents to
be able to afford a full and good family life?
With John Kerry as president, we can, and we will
protect our nation's security without sacrificing our
civil liberties.
In short, John believes that we can and we must lead
the world as America, unique among nations, always
should by showing the face not of its fear, but of our
hopes.
And John is a fighter. He earned his medals the
old-fashioned way...
by putting his life on the line for his country.
And no one will defend this nation more vigorously
than he will.
And he will always, always be first in the line of
fire.
But he also knows the importance of getting it right.
For him, the names of many friends inscribed on the
Vietnam Memorial -- that cold stone -- testify to the
awful toil exacted by leaders who mistake stubbornness
for strength.
And that is why as president my husband will not fear
disagreement or dissent. He believes that our voices
-- yours and mine -- must be the voices of freedom.
And if we do not speak, neither does she.
In America the true patriots are those who dare speak
truth through power.
And the truth that we must speak now is that America
has responsibilities that it is time for us to accept
again.
With John Kerry as president, global climate change
and other threats to the health of our planet will
begin to be reversed.
With John Kerry as president, the alliances that bind
the community of nations and that truly make our
country and the world a safer place, will be
strengthened once more.
And the Americans John and I have met in the course of
this campaign all want America to provide hopeful
leadership again. They want America to return to its
moral bearings.
And It is not -- it is not a moralistic America they
seek; it is a moral nation that understands and
willingly shoulders its obligations, a moral nation
that rejects thoughtless and greedy choices in favor
of thoughtful and generous actions.
And it is a moral nation that leads through the power
of its ideas and the power of its example.
We can and we should join together to make the most of
this great gift that we have all been given, this gift
of freedom and this gift of America.
In his first inaugural, speaking to a nation on the
eve of war, Abraham Lincoln said, "We must not be
enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not
break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of
memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot
grave to every living heart and hearth stone all over
this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the
union when again touched, as surely they will be, by
the better angels of our nature."
Today, the better angels of our nature are just
waiting to be summoned.
We only require a leader who is willing to call on
them, a leader willing to draw again the mystic cords
of our national memory and remind us of all that we as
a people, everyday leaders, can do, of all that we as
a nation stand for, and of all the immense possibility
that still lies ahead.
I think I've found that guy.
And I'm married to him.
John Kerry will give us back our faith in America. He
will restore our faith in ourselves. And in the sense
of limitless opportunity that has always been
America's gift to the world, together we will lift
everyone up. We have to. It's possible. And do you
know what? It's the American thing to do.
Good night. And God bless you.
Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/27/dems.teresa.transcript/index.html