The Impact of Our Nation's Choices

Posted by Christy Hardin Smith, Firedoglake at 11:31 AM on May 16, 2008.

Wednesday, John Edwards endorsed Barack Obama. There is no shortage of articles digging into the endorsement, the potential attached strings (nothing substantiated), the potential split between John and Elizabeth's support (again nothing substantiated), and what it means for the Democratic party horserace in highly broad, speculative terms.

What none of the reports really address is the substance -- the gut and heart level issues -- that Edwards spoke about, which got an incredible reaction from the Michigan crowd.

Which, frankly, is altogether too familiar in political reportage given the dismissive and superficial tone of so much of the coverage of him when he was a candidate. I, however, refuse to just let it be -- because the speech was a barn burner, and listening to it was like taking a long, cool drink of water on a parched day...and it is one that we need to hear, loud and clear.

I've attached a YouTube of the speech in its entirety. If you missed it, do take the time to watch it in full. You'll thank me later.

He begins with some lovely words about Sen. Hillary Clinton, praising her long work for children and families, and saying that “[w]e are a stronger party because Hillary Clinton is a Democrat, we are a stronger country because of her years of public service, and we’re going to have a stronger presidential nominee in the fall because of her work.” Good for him, because she's worked her ass off -- and compassion, understanding and mutual respect are things we are in far too short a supply of these days.

From there, Edwards laid out why he was endorsing Sen. Barack Obama. And this is what I want most to amplify from it:

What brought all of us together is the profound belief that we can change this country. That there are servicemen and women in Iraq who can come home -- starting today. That our kids deserve to go to better schools than we went to. That we can run our cars on something other than oil. That we have good jobs that can fill these empty factories. And that the anxiety that all of our people face every day can change when we finally make two Americas, one America -- for every single one of us.

This is why you are here -- you are here because of the hope that you carry in your heart to make this country better....

There is another wall that divides us -- it's the moral shame of the 37 million of our own people who wake up in poverty every single day. In a nation of our wealth, to have millions of Americans who work every single day and still can't pay their electric bill and pay for their food at the same time. There are mothers out there who work two jobs every day to try to keep their kids from going to bed hungry. There are men and women who have worked hard all their lives so that they can try and buy a home, and they are living in a tent city because they have got nowhere else to go. This is not okay.

And for eight, long, long years, this wall has gotten taller. Yesterday...yesterday I was in Philadelphia, and I was announcing an initiative to cut poverty in America in half in the next ten years. And I am proud to say that today, Barack Obama stands with me in this cause....

If we stand together, we can change it.

Recently, selise mentioned how wonderful a conversation could be about what matters to folks in this country the most, and what ideas they have for making things better.

We must end the "I've got mine. You don't have any? Too fricking bad for you." mentality. One of the reasons that I am liberal is that I understand the long-term implications of such a greedy, short-sighted attitude, and what sort of benefit we could be getting from an "I've got mine. How can I help you get some, too?" shift in thought process. The "teach a man to fish" mentality has been tossed aside for far too long. When human beings are constantly told they are worthless, both through public attitudes and policies which further marginalize them? What else do we expect than for them to act the way that they are conditioned to feel.

Well, here's my theory -- one hard earned working with criminals, juveniles and neglected kids through the years: some folks you can't save, because they have been too broken to fix. But some folks, you can help out by simply showing some compassion, some respect, and some kindness and by helping them learn to respect and care for themselves.

This is especially true with at risk kids who can flourish if they are simply given a glimpse of who they could be, of a future that is brighter, and of someone caring enough to help them make it happen. But you can't know who you can help to lift themselves up to something better -- for themselves, their families, their community -- unless you try. And by trying, you lift yourself up in the process as well.

Wouldn't we all be better off in that America? What problems do you see...and what do you suggest as ways to fix them? Let's get that conversation started...

Tagged as: poverty