Friday, February 29, 2008

Who are we, the Hillary Democrats?

We are an alliance, of people of all ages and backgrounds, who have fought, are fighting and will fight, against racism, sexism, and any “ism” that limits opportunities for any American.

To be honest, we’re a little confused, that after our digging in and battling against those evils, someone lectures us by saying, “My God, you’re divisive. My goodness gracious, you must be from the ‘old politics’” -- of standing up for what is right, instead of making sure we’re in a group hug with these right wing demagogues. These are the same people who wanted to get rid of social security, and lied about it, claiming that Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to do the exact same thing. And now, they’re going to surrender and join together.

We Clinton supporters believe in working with our adversaries to create positive change, wherever that’s possible. But we also believe in confronting those adversaries, when they want to slash important programs even as they run up huge deficits, sending us back to before Franklin Roosevelt to the 1920s, a time of starving children, nonexistent health care, 16 hour workdays, and abandoned senior citizens in poor houses.

We understand that changes may take a while. The first time national health care was proposed, the idea was dismissed as crazy radical politics, just like social security, eight hour workdays, child labor laws, even the idea of spending federal money on some nonsensical idea called the Internet.

All of these dreams have come true. And every time we work for complete health coverage in this country, more and more people from every background realize that we must do it. Now, thanks to efforts like Senator Clinton’s, people are gradually coming around. Businesses are begging for some system that provides insurance, but doesn’t bleed their companies dry.

Our families, all across this country, cry out for health coverage, because they want do whatever they can to take care of Grandma and Grandpa, but not at the expense of cancelling their children’s future.

And by the way, we’re proud of any wear and tear you might see on our faces. We earned those marks, fighting for a better America.

We won’t be lectured about “bringing people together,” because we’ve tried that route already. When a new President, in the wake of the most vicious attacks on America, told us our country was about to be attacked again, we could have been divisive. Say, make a speech in a state legislature somewhere.

But Senator Clinton actually chose the route that Senator Obama is advocating now. In the spirit of unity, she decided, maybe we should all join together, instead of making political points. Maybe we should reach out across the aisle in the spirit of unity. Any President, in time of crisis, should be able to depend on our support.

The fact is, we didn’t know that the Administration we were trusting had invented the crisis, that this President planned to attack Iraq before he ever took office, and that the top secret briefings we got, had been prepared by Dr. Seuss.

You can’t have it both ways. Tell us to unite, and then attack us for doing so.

A large majority of Americans supported this President when the Iraq wore began, because they too believed in reaching out in unity, and they believed that our President wouldn't go to war without good reason. Hundreds of thousands of men and women are in harm’s way right now because after a divisive election, and the murderous crimes of 9/11, we took our President seriously.

That’s unity. That’s coming together. And we’re all paying the price.

Senator Obama says the difference is, he’ll be “right from day one.” He’ll have “good ideas” instead of the previous “bad ideas.” That’s just not true. Because I checked the Constitution. It still says, to qualify to run for president, you have to be a “human being.”

That means, every president will make mistakes. But with the wisdom of experience, domestically and internationally, Senator Hillary Clinton will steer this great country to peace, prosperity, and greater opportunity for all Americans. How do we know she can do this? Because someone named Clinton accomplished the very same things in the 1990’s, and Hillary helped make it happen.

That’s who we are. We're the people who believe in results. We believe in Democratic principles. And we know that Senator Hillary Clinton will deliver those results for every American.

Labels: , , , , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home