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Seize This
Opportunity for Change
Text of Al Gore
Speech
One of the greatest
gifts of our democracy is the opportunity it offers us
every four years to change course. It's not a guarantee;
it's only an opportunity. The question facing us is,
simply put, will we seize this opportunity for change?
That's why I came here tonight: to tell you why I feel
so strongly that we must seize this opportunity to elect
Barack Obama President of the United States.
Eight years ago, some
said there was not much difference between the nominees
of the two major parties and it didn't really matter who
became president. Our nation was enjoying peace and
prosperity. Some assumed we would continue both, no
matter the outcome. But here we all are in 2008, and I
doubt anyone would argue now that election didn't
matter.
Take it from me, if
it had ended differently, we would not be bogged down in
Iraq, we would have pursued bin Laden until we captured
him. We would not be facing a self-inflicted economic
crisis; we would be fighting for middle-income families.
We would not be showing contempt for the Constitution;
we'd be protecting the rights of every American
regardless of race, religion, disability, gender or
sexual orientation. And we would not be denying the
climate crisis; we'd be solving it.
Today, we face
essentially the same choice we faced in 2000, though it
may be even more obvious now, because John McCain, a man
who has earned our respect on many levels, is now openly
endorsing the policies of the Bush-Cheney White House
and promising to actually continue them. The same
policies all over again?
Hey, I believe in
recycling, but that's ridiculous. With John McCain's
support, President Bush and Vice President Cheney have
led our nation into one calamity after another because
of their indifference to fact; their readiness to
sacrifice the long term to the short term, subordinate
the general good to the benefit of the few and
short-circuit the rule of law.
If you like the
Bush-Cheney approach, John McCain's your man. If you
want change, then vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Barack Obama is
telling us exactly what he will do: launch a bold new
economic plan to restore America's greatness; fight for
smarter government that trusts the market, but protects
us against its excesses; enact policies that are
pro-choice, pro-education and pro-family, establish a
foreign policy that is smart as well as strong; provide
health care for all and solutions for the climate
crisis.
So why is this
election so close? Well, I know something about close
elections, so let me offer you my opinion. I believe
this election is close today mainly because the forces
of the status quo are desperately afraid of the change
Barack Obama represents.
There is no better
example than the climate crisis. As I have said for many
years throughout this land, we're borrowing money from
China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in
ways that destroy the future of human civilization.
Every bit of that has to change. Oil company profits
have soared to record levels, gasoline prices have gone
through the roof and we are more dependent than ever on
dirty and dangerous fossil fuels.
Many scientists
predict that the entire north polar ice cap may be
completely gone during summer months in the first term
of the next president. Sea levels are rising, fires are
raging, storms are stronger. Military experts warn us
our national security is threatened by massive waves of
climate refugees destabilizing countries around the
world, and scientists tell us the very web of life is
endangered by unprecedented extinctions.
We are facing a
planetary emergency which, if not solved, would exceed
anything we've ever experienced in the history of
humankind. In spite of John McCain's past record of open
mindedness on the climate crisis, he has apparently now
allowed his party to browbeat him into abandoning his
support of mandatory caps on global warming pollution.
And it just so
happens that the climate crisis is intertwined with the
other two great challenges facing our nation: reviving
our economy and strengthening our national security. The
solutions to all three require us to end our dependence
on carbon-based fuels.
Instead of letting
lobbyists and polluters control our destiny, we need to
invest in American innovation. Almost a hundred years
ago, Thomas Edison said, "I'd put my money on the sun
and solar energy. What a source of power! I hope we
don't have to wait until oil and coal run out before we
tackle that." We already have everything we need to use
the sun, the wind, geothermal power, conservation and
efficiency to solve the climate crisis—everything,
that is, except a president who inspires us to believe,
"Yes we can."
So how did this
no-brainer become a brain-twister? Because the carbon
fuels industry—big
oil and coal—have
a 50-year lease on the Republican Party and they are
drilling it for everything it's worth. And this same
industry has spent a half a billion dollars this year
alone trying to convince the public they are actually
solving the problem, when they are in fact making it
worse every single day.
This administration
and the special interests who control it lock, stock and
barrel after barrel, have performed this same
sleight-of-hand on issue after issue. Some of the best
marketers have the worst products; and this is certainly
true of today's Republican Party. The party itself has
on its rolls men and women of great quality. But the
last eight years demonstrate that the special interests
who have come to control the Republican Party are so
powerful that serving them and serving the national
well-being are now irreconcilable choices.
So what can we do
about it? We can carry Barack Obama's message of hope
and change to every family in America. And pledge that
we will be there for Barack Obama—not
only in the heat of this election, but in the aftermath
as we put his agenda to work for our country.
We can tell
Republicans and Independents, as well as Democrats, why
our nation needs a change from the approach of Bush,
Cheney and McCain. After they wrecked our economy, it is
time for a change. After they abandoned the search for
the terrorists who attacked us and redeployed the troops
to invade a nation that did not attack us, it's time for
a change. After they abandoned the American principle
first laid down by General George Washington, when he
prohibited the torture of captives because it would
bring, in his words, "shame, disgrace and ruin" to our
nation, it's time for a change.
When as many as three
Supreme Court justices could be appointed in the first
term of the next president, and John McCain promises to
appoint more Scalias and Thomases and end a woman's
right to choose, it's time for a change.
Many people have been
waiting for some sign that our country is ready for such
change. How will we know when it's beginning to take
hold? I think we might recognize it as a sign of such
change, if we saw millions of young people getting
involved for the first time in the political process.
This election is actually not close at all among younger
voters - you are responding in unprecedented numbers to
Barack Obama's message of change and hope.
You recognize that he
represents a clean break from the politics of
partisanship and bitter division. You understand that
the politics of the past are exhausted, and you're tired
of appeals based on fear. You know that America is
capable of better than what you have seen in recent
years. You are hungry for a new politics based on
bipartisan respect for the ageless principles embodied
in the United States Constitution.
There are times in
the history of our nation when our very way of life
depends upon awakening to the challenge of a present
danger, shaking off complacency to rise, clear-eyed and
alert, to the necessity of embracing change.
A century and a half
ago, when America faced our greatest trial, the end of
one era gave way to the birth of another. The candidate
who emerged victorious in that election is now regarded
by most historians as our greatest president. Before he
entered the White House, Abraham Lincoln's experience in
elective office consisted of eight years in his state
legislature in Springfield, Illinois, and one term in
Congress—during
which he showed the courage and wisdom to oppose the
invasion of another country that was popular when it
started but later condemned by history.
The experience
Lincoln's supporters valued most in that race was his
powerful ability to inspire hope in the future at a time
of impasse. He was known chiefly as a clear thinker and
a great orator, with a passion for justice and a
determination to heal the deep divisions of our land. He
insisted on reaching past partisan and regional divides
to exalt our common humanity. In 2008, once again, we
find ourselves at the end of an era with a mandate from
history to launch another new beginning. And once again,
we have a candidate whose experience perfectly matches
an extraordinary moment of transition.
Barack Obama had the
experience and wisdom to oppose a popular war based on
faulty premises. His leadership experience has given him
a unique capacity to inspire hope, in the promise of the
American dream of a boundless future. His experience has
also given him genuine respect for different views and
humility, in the face of complex realities that cannot
be squeezed into the narrow compartments of ideology.
His experience has taught him something that career
politicians often overlook: that inconvenient truths
must be acknowledged if we are to have wise governance.
The extraordinary
strength of his personal character—and
that of his wonderful wife, Michelle—is
grounded in the strengths of the American community. His
vision and his voice represent the best of America. His
life experience embodies the essence of our motto—e
pluribus unum—out of many, one. That is the linking
identity at the other end of all the hyphens that
pervade our modern political culture. It is that common
American identity - which Barack Obama exemplifies,
heart and soul - that enables us as Americans to speak
with moral authority to all of the peoples of the world,
to inspire hope that we as human beings can transcend
our limitations and to redeem the promise of human
freedom.
Late this evening,
our convention will end with a benediction. As we bow in
reverence, remember the words of the old proverb: "when
you pray, move your feet." Then let us leave here
tonight and take the message of hope from Denver to
every corner of our land, and do everything we can to
serve our nation, our world—and
most importantly, our children and their future—by
electing Barack Obama President of the United States.
Al Gore DNC Speech 2008
(video)
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American Creation
Triumphs and Tragedies in the Founding
of the Republic
By Joseph J. Ellis
This subtle,
brilliant examination of the period
between the War of Independence and the
Louisiana Purchase puts Pulitzer-winner
Ellis (Founding
Brothers)
among the finest of America's narrative
historians. Six stories, each centering
on a significant creative achievement or
failure, combine to portray often flawed
men and their efforts to lay the
republic's foundation. Set against the
extraordinary establishment of the most
liberal nation-state in the history of
Western Civilization... in the most
extensive and richly endowed plot of
ground on the planet are the terrible
costs of victory, including the
perpetuation of slavery and the cruel
oppression of Native Americans. Ellis
blames the founders' failures on their
decision to opt for an evolutionary
revolution, not a risky severance with
tradition (as would happen, murderously,
in France, which necessitated
compromises, like retaining slavery).
Despite the injustices and brutalities
that resulted, Ellis argues, this
deferral strategy was a profound insight
rooted in a realistic appraisal of how
enduring social change best happens.
Ellis's lucid, illuminating and ironic
prose will make this a holiday season
hit.—
Publishers Weekly /
American Creation (Joseph Ellis
interview) |
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The Last Holiday: A Memoir
By Gil Scott Heron
Shortly after we republished The Vulture and The Nigger Factory, Gil started to tell me about The Last Holiday, an account he was writing of a multi-city tour that he ended up doing with Stevie Wonder in late 1980 and early 1981. Originally Bob Marley was meant to be playing the tour that Stevie Wonder had conceived as a way of trying to force legislation to make Martin Luther King's birthday a national holiday. At the time, Marley was dying of cancer, so Gil was asked to do the first six dates. He ended up doing all 41. And Dr King's birthday ended up becoming a national holiday ("The Last Holiday because America can't afford to have another national holiday"), but Gil always felt that Stevie never got the recognition he deserved and that his story needed to be told. The first chapters of this book were given to me in New York when Gil was living in the Chelsea Hotel. Among the pages was a chapter called Deadline that recounts the night they played Oakland, California, 8 December; it was also the night that John Lennon was murdered. Gil uses Lennon's violent end as a brilliant parallel to Dr King's assassination and as a biting commentary on the constraints that sometimes lead to newspapers getting things wrong. —Jamie Byng, Guardian / Gil_reads_"Deadline" (audio) |
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The White Masters of the
World
From
The World and Africa, 1965
By W. E. B. Du Bois
W. E. B. Du Bois’
Arraignment and Indictment of White Civilization
(Fletcher)
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Ancient African Nations
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If you like this page consider making a donation
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Negro Digest /
Black World
Browse all issues
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1960
1965
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____ 2005
Enjoy!
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The Death of Emmett Till by Bob Dylan
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The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
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Only a Pawn in Their Game
Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson Thanks America for
Slavery /
George Jackson /
Hurricane Carter
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The Journal of Negro History issues at Project Gutenberg
The
Haitian Declaration of Independence 1804
/
January 1, 1804 -- The Founding of
Haiti
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posted 31 August 2008
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