Planet Waves | June 22, 2005 Apparently, we've "turned a corner" ... no, not the effusively optomistic kind that GWB turns every so often to keep us in the patriotism-corral ... a real one, where the war has become too heavy a burden, the economy is not working, the cronyism is too rampant and the lies are too thick. It's a populist corner ... the court of public opinion is not happy with its leadership, the majority has finally noticed we're in trouble. The Lefty's are "cautiously optomistic" (verging on thrilled, they've waited so very long to see this happen) ... and the Righty's are "standing firm" (verging on hysterical and jumping ship, their own elections are coming up fast.) Many of us have been anticipating this "corner" coming ... although I'll admit I'm surprised what a week can do! Like somebody slamming the gears into reverse and stepping on the gas -- kinda pins you to the seat for a couple of surprised seconds. Because I've felt it coming on [and trusted the astrology to do it's work,] I've been fretting whether the minority party could get it's act together or not, stop the "push back" [that was clearly required, catch-22] long enough to gather a Vision and get the Idea's rumbling ... good idea's always trump bad ones. I'm not sure anybody's there, yet -- they're still wondering if Dubya will manufacture a war with Iran to keep the nationalism juices stirred, or if there will be more homeland alerts to divert his current lame duck status and failures in congress. The window could be very small, the opportunity fleeting. We need something to wedge into the doorway of the nation's discontent. I don't blame the Democrats for their lack of input, they're in a fix -- they've been pushing a big boulder up a steep hill for several years ... it's pretty tough to come up with new ideas and creative solutions when you're spending most of your time trying to salvage something of our "old democracy" from this current ugly version, and side-step attack from the GOP. Not much print seems to be where I am on this, a little ahead of the curve, so it's been frustrating to waft around the web, looking for the Vision, searching for something to inspire and dazzle and pull us back into Kennedy-esque service to our nation, pride in our country, hope in our possibilities -- and finding so little. We desperately need that vision, my dears ... we are in a dreadful mess and the "fixing" will take more than we know. I've been nervous as a cat for a couple of days, looking for it. And then ... be still my heart ... I found something stunning from Barack Obama, boy wonder of the Democratic National Convention and one of our newest Senators. There is something downright "non-political" about Obama ... a genuineness that hasn't been beaten out of him yet, a Mr.-Smith-Goes-To-Washington intention to side-step politics, even in the midst of 'em, and reach for the dream of a restored America. When he speaks, you know his words are innate, not manufactured. Below, you will find part of a commencement speech he made recently and a Vision that, I trust, will inspire and dazzle you, too. A vision of America healing herself. He had me at Hello. After you read this snip, read the entire speech -- you'll love it. I'd suggest to the Democratic Leadership that they start with this, as their talking points. It's been a long time since you've heard something like this -- too damned long. Peace ~ Jude Barack Obama's commencement address at Knox College http://www.knox.edu/x9803.xml ...Like so much of the American story, once again, we face a choice. Once again, there are those who believe that there isn't much we can do about this as a nation. That the best idea is to give everyone one big refund on their government - divvy it up by individual portions, in the form of tax breaks, hand it out, and encourage everyone to use their share to go buy their own health care, their own retirement plan, their own child care, their own education, and so on. In Washington, they call this the Ownership Society. But in our past there has been another term for it - Social Darwinism - every man or woman for him or herself. It's a tempting idea, because it doesn't require much thought or ingenuity. It allows us to say that those whose health care or tuition may rise faster than they can afford - tough luck. It allows us to say to the Maytag workers who have lost their job - life isn't fair. It let's us say to the child who was born into poverty - pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And it is especially tempting because each of us believes we will always be the winner in life's lottery, that we're the one who will be the next Donald Trump, or at least we won't be the chump who Donald Trump says: "You're fired!" But there is a problem. It won't work. It ignores our history. It ignores the fact that it's been government research and investment that made the railways possible and the internet possible. It's been the creation of a massive middle class, through decent wages and benefits and public schools that allowed us all to prosper. Our economic dependence depended on individual initiative. It depended on a belief in the free market; but it has also depended on our sense of mutual regard for each other, the idea that everybody has a stake in the country, that we're all in it together and everybody's got a shot at opportunity. That's what's produced our unrivaled political stability. And so if we do nothing in the face of globalization, more people will continue to lose their health care. Fewer kids will be able to afford the diploma you're about to receive. More companies like United Airlines won't be able to provide pensions for their employees. And those Maytag workers will be joined in the unemployment line by any worker whose skills can be bought and sold on the global market. So today I'm here to tell you what most of you already know. This is not us - the option that I just mentioned. Doing nothing. It's not how our story ends - not in this country. America is a land of big dreamers and big hopes. It is this hope that has sustained us through revolution and civil war, depression and world war, a struggle for civil and social rights and the brink of nuclear crisis. And it is because our dreamers dreamed that we have emerged from each challenge more united, more prosperous, and more admired than before. So let's dream. Instead of doing nothing or simply defending 20th century solutions, let's imagine together what we could do to give every American a fighting chance in the 21st Century. What if we prepared every child in America with the education and skills they need to compete in the new economy? If we made sure that college was affordable for everyone who wanted to go? If we walked up to those Maytag workers and we said "Your old job is not coming back, but a new job will be there because we're going to seriously retrain you and there's life-long education that's waiting for you - the sorts of opportunities that Knox has created with the Strong Futures scholarship program. What if no matter where you worked or how many times you switched jobs, you had health care and a pension that stayed with you always, so you all had the flexibility to move to a better job or start a new business? What if instead of cutting budgets for research and development and science, we fueled the genius and the innovation that will lead to the new jobs and new industries of the future? Right now, all across America, there are amazing discoveries being made. If we supported these discoveries on a national level, if we committed ourselves to investing in these possibilities, just imagine what it could do for a town like Galesburg. Ten or twenty years down the road, that old Maytag plant could re-open its doors as an Ethanol refinery that turned corn into fuel. Down the street, a biotechnology research lab could open up on the cusp of discovering a cure for cancer. And across the way, a new auto company could be busy churning out electric cars. The new jobs created would be filled by American workers trained with new skills and a world-class education. All of that is possible but none of it will come easy. Every one of us is going to have to work more, read more, train more, think more. We will have to slough off some bad habits - like driving gas guzzlers that weaken our economy and feed our enemies abroad. Our children will have to turn off the TV set once in a while and put away the video games and start hitting the books. We'll have to reform institutions, like our public schools, that were designed for an earlier time. Republicans will have to recognize our collective responsibilities, even as Democrats recognize that we have to do more than just defend old programs. It won't be easy, but it can be done. It can be our future. We have the talent and the resources and brainpower. But now we need the political will. We need a national commitment. And we need each of you... Jude, the editor of Political Waves, is sharing the blog with Eric. You can subscribe to Political Waves (our all-politics news distribution list) for free at the link below. You'll receive between five and 10 news articles each day. You may write to Jude with your responses to her commentaries at moderator@planetwaves.net. Political Waves list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/political_waves/