As he left the Constitutional Convention in 1787, having signed the document that still serves as the bedrock of our national life today, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of government had been constructed for the newly United States.
"A republic," he famously responded, "if you can keep it."
That challenge has echoed down through the centuries, as each generation of Americans has faced the burdens of their age.
Yesterday, in words that echoed Franklin's, Senator Barack Obama did something truly unusual for a politician in our day and age: he challenged us.
We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle - as we did in the OJ trial - or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news...
We can do that.
But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change.
That is one option. Or, at this moment, in this election, we can come together and say, "Not this time." This time we want to talk about the crumbling schools that are stealing the future of black children and white children and Asian children and Hispanic children and Native American children. This time we want to reject the cynicism that tells us that these kids can't learn; that those kids who don't look like us are somebody else's problem. The children of America are not those kids, they are our kids, and we will not let them fall behind in a 21st century economy. Not this time.
This time we want to talk about how the lines in the Emergency Room are filled with whites and blacks and Hispanics who do not have health care; who don't have the power on their own to overcome the special interests in Washington, but who can take them on if we do it together.
This time we want to talk about the shuttered mills that once provided a decent life for men and women of every race, and the homes for sale that once belonged to Americans from every religion, every region, every walk of life. This time we want to talk about the fact that the real problem is not that someone who doesn't look like you might take your job; it's that the corporation you work for will ship it overseas for nothing more than a profit.
This is not the sort of thing you generally hear from a political candidate. Usually, they trip over themselves to avoid challenging you -- to pander to your prejudices, to assure you that your desires are the alpha and omega, and that the highest calling the nation has is to satisfy them.
Obama's speech yesterday was different. It was, in a word, honest. Honest about the good and bad deeds that lie in our history; honest about the ways that honorable people of all races have been led astray by the legacy of those deeds; and honest about the ways that some others have cynically manipulated these legacies to serve their own ends.
Senator Obama's challenge to us all is simple: are we clear-minded enough to see through those manipulations? Are we strong enough to grapple with those legacies with open hearts?
This is perhaps the most essential question of our time. As Franklin knew, a free republic cannot endure if it is populated only by people who are unwilling to reach out and help their fellow citizens. A nation where some are left to starve for lack of food, some are left to die from lack of health care, some are left to drown in the waters of a hurricane from lack of the will to rescue them -- such a nation will inevitably see its freedom erode as each begins to look out only for his own.
This is the heart of Obama's challenge, as well as Franklin's. Our parents and grandparents bequeathed to us one of the few societies in the history of the world to combine political freedom, economic prosperity and physical security. The challenge is simple: can we keep it? Are we willing to do the hard work keeping it requires of us?
Barack Obama believes that we are -- that, as previous generations did, we need only look inside ourselves to find the solutions to the problems that seem so intractable today. He believes in our ability to live up to the standards set by those whose hard work built America.
The response from the right makes it clear what the shape of this year's contest will be:
In their view, the inflammatory sermons by Obama’s pastor offer the party a pathway to victory if Obama emerges as the Democratic nominee. Not only will the video clips enable some elements of the party to define him as unpatriotic, they will also serve as a powerful motivating force for the conservative base...
“It opens up an entire new vein,” said Republican consultant Paul Wilson.
Just as with John F. Kerry and the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth in 2004, Republican strategists view the Wright flap as deeply damaging to Obama because it strikes at the message, or set of principles, at the heart of his candidacy.
Unable to run on accomplishments, having presided over a disastrous foreign policy and a domestic policy that has done damage to the very foundation of our prosperity, the right will run on one thing: fear. They will use every tool they have in an unprecedented campaign to manipulate you -- to try to convince you, gripped by panic, to look past the destruction their leaders have wrought.
In other words, they believe that Franklin's confidence in you -- in your ability to think clearly and act courageously when the times require it -- was misplaced. They see you instead as a kind of dumb herd animal, docile and unthinking, to be kept in line with the prod and the lash.
This, then, is the choice we face: citizenship versus subjection. Progress versus stagnation. Confidence -- in ourselves and our nation -- versus fear.
I know which one Franklin would have chosen.
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Comments (6)
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As a 20 year Teamster, I am not only shocked but embarassed, that the general office of the IBT has not yet peeled away from Barack Hussein Obama. It is a disgrace to the hardworking, dues paying, members of the Teamsters. We have recieved a huge black eye from the unvealing of Mr. Obama's true personality that was hidden until now. We, as members, are patiently waiting for the IBT to make a move and separate us from Mr. Obama.
Posted by Dave Kylor on March 20, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Posted on March 20, 2008 at 7:32 PM
Obama: More Taxes, Rights for bin Laden
Get to know the real Barack Obama: He has proposed at least $287 billion a year in new government spending. How would he pay for it? Higher taxes. Then, he voted last August to give Osama bin Laden and other terrorists the same rights as Americans when it comes to intercepting their overseas calls in order to pick up clues needed to stop another attack.
What are you people thinking ? Yeah this is the right man for the job of destroying this country even further , read what I posted above then rethink what you have done ..
Posted by Leon A. Pollock on March 20, 2008 at 7:59 PM
Posted on March 20, 2008 at 7:59 PM
I am not proud to be a Teamster these days as the IBT is pledged our support for a Presidential candidate whose campaign is not realistic. "Change" as Obama puts it could mean anything........."Change" for the better, or "Change" for the worst? He talks the talk, but can he walk the walk? I think not...Political pressures and finacial pitfalls will prevent him from making these "Changes" he proclaims. How will he pay for them? Raise taxes, that's how. I'm taxed to death now and he wants more? NO WAY !Hard working Americans need to think about this...it's tuff enough now and I can't afford any more!!! He's done a couple good things in the past in his state, but NOT on the national level, this is a whole different ballgame he undertaking now! I don't think he can handle the job!
Posted by Wayne Henson on March 21, 2008 at 12:44 PM
Posted on March 21, 2008 at 12:44 PM
obama is the last thing working people need
Posted by mark bog on March 22, 2008 at 12:45 AM
Posted on March 22, 2008 at 12:45 AM
On the Sunday following 9/11, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former Marine & minister, characterized the terrorist attacks as a consequence of violent American foreign policies. This characterization has drawn sharp criticism from many as being anti-patriotic. I would like to refer you to some statements made by Major General Smedley Darlington Butler, 2-Time Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient, with 34yrs in the Marine Corps. and an impeccable reputation for patriotism. Amid the brewing turmoil leading up to WWII, in “Time of Peace,” Common Sense, Nov. 1935, Butler said:
“There isn’t a trick in the racketeering bag that the military gang is blind to. It has its ‘finger men’ (to point out enemies), its ‘muscle men’ (to destroy enemies), its ‘brain men’ (to plan war preparations), and a “Big Boss” (super-nationalistic capitalism).
It may seem odd for a military man to adopt such a comparison. Truthfulness compels me to.
I suspected I was just part of a racket at the time. Now I am sure of it. Like all the members of the military profession, I never had a thought of my own until I left the service. My mental faculties remained in suspended animation while I obeyed the orders of higher-ups.
I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long. I helped purify Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras “right” for American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927, I helped see to it that Standard Oil went its way unmolested….
I had, as the boys in the back room would say, a swell racket…. I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents….
Our exploits against the American Indian, the Filipinos, the Mexicans, and against Spain are on a par with the campaigns of Genghis Khan, the Japanese in Manchuria and the African attack of Mussolini. No country has ever declared war on us before we first obliged them with that gesture. Our whole history shows we have never fought a defensive war.”
Did you hear that? "No country has ever declared war on us before we first obliged them with that gesture." That sounds like all the aggressive acts committed against America, to that date, are being characterized as a consequence of violent American foreign policies; just like Rev. Jeremiah Wright said even more recently, right after 9-11. The C.I.A. refers to such unintended consequences as "blow-back."
By all means, bear in mind that National City Bank, now Citibank, was and is dominated by the Rockefeller family and heirs along with Standard Oil Co. now splintered, through trust busting, into Exxon/Mobil and other companies. Prescott Bush, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prescott_Bush (Please scroll down to "Nazi collaboration" & "Alleged plot to overthrow FDR" in the link provided.) ran the International Banking House of Brown Brothers & Harriman mentioned above by Gen. Butler, just not during the same years he referenced. Prescott, the DuPont's, along with others formed an organization called the American Liberty League. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Liberty_League & http://coat.ncf.ca/our_magazine/links/53/all-both.html This group was responsible for planning "The Business Plot," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Plot which was a failed American Fascist attempt to overthrow FDR just prior to WWII. Gen. Butler single handedly foiled that plot. Had it succeeded, it would have resulted in the US becoming allies with Germany in WWII and you wouldn't be reading this in English. For time well invested and information on that plot, please click here: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=628728631767818729&q=the+business+plot&total=500&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1
The American Liberty League built its foundation with some "Zell Miller" types of Democrats, as well. Lawyers for the American Liberty League challenged the validity of the Wagner Act (National Labor Relations Act), but in 1937, the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the statute.
My expectations of what government should do for me is rather modest in comparison to what, say... the Rockefeller's, Carnage's, Goodyear's, Heinz's, Melon's, Rothschild's, DuPont's, Morgan's, Bush's, Walton's, and other modern day American Liberty League hold-overs, expect it should do for them. Who, by the way, all have one thing in common that is undeniable...they are all white Americans; just like Rev. Wright had the audacity to point out. I am too, but don't hold that against me. I believe the real enemy here is the unhealthy love of green, silver, and gold. Still, I would rather he choose softer rethoric that would be more sensitive to a broader audience.
I'm not voting for Rev. Wright, no matter how patriotic he is or what office he is running for...oh yeah, he's not running for anything, is he? The sooner our leaders of religion, government, and places of employment come to terms with the fact that their patiotism is not bound to the continent of their racial origin, but rather to the continent of their homes, the better off we will all be. I believe Obama has got all this pretty well figured out. I don't see him abandoning his white heritage in favor of his black; nor his black for his white. Racial heritage is important to almost everyone, but it does not and should not transcend National patriotism. I, myself, have the racial heritage of a Scotsman and a Cherokee, but my patriotism is to the United States, which represents both. I get a little insulted with the term "half-breed," as I am sure Obama does as well. I look forward to following the events surrounding the free speech of Rev. Wright as they unfold. I am proud of the stand that my Union has taken in the Presidential election this year. Even if I weren't proud of it, I would not dare speak publically against it. I will never scab, either.
Posted by Grady Burrell on March 22, 2008 at 1:35 AM
Posted on March 22, 2008 at 1:35 AM
Still not impressed with senator Obama; I think Sister McKinney's response at http://www.runcynthiarun.org/DiscussionOfRaceThatMatters is much better put.
Posted by B. Ross Ashley on April 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Posted on April 22, 2008 at 12:32 PM