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I
know that working together, we can make great things possible
again.
There
is nothing more American than peaceful protest.
I don't
know how it could be more stark or clear: this entire society
is being dominated by corporate power in a way that may
exceed what happened in the late nineteenth century, early
twentieth century.
The
idea of allowing corporations to have unlimited influence
on our democracy is very dangerous, obviously.
Health
care for all Americans is the most pressing domestic issue
today.
Cuts
to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits are unacceptable,
and they shouldn't be put on the table by Democrats for
any reason.
Opening
up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling is
bad public policy
Of
course, there is no doubt that if we lived in a police state,
it would be easier to catch terrorists. If we lived in a
country that allowed the police to search your home at any
time for any reason; if we lived in a country that allowed
the government to open your mail, eavesdrop on your phone
conversations, or intercept your email communications; if
we lived in a country that allowed the government to hold
people in jail indefinitely based on what they write or
think, or based on mere suspicion that they are up to no
good, then the government would no doubt discover and arrest
more terrorists. But that probably would not be a country
in which we would want to live. And that would not be a
country for which we could, in good conscience, ask our
young people to fight and die. In short, that would not
be America.
Americans
want to defeat terrorism and they want the basic character
of this country to survive and prosper. They want both security
and liberty, and unless we give them both — and we can if
we try — we have failed.
It's
time to stand up - not to cheer, but to fight back.
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