Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic Convention Speech

The following is a transcript of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s speech at the Democratic National Convention, as provided by CQ Transcriptions. I have to say, it’s one of the best speeches I’ve heard delivered live (rather than listening later through recordings.)

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic Convention Speech – Part 1

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic Convention Speech – Part 2

Hillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic Convention Speech – Part 3

Senator Clinton: Thank you. Thank you all.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. Thank you all very, very much.

(APPLAUSE)

Thank you. Thank you all very much. I…

(APPLAUSE)

I am so honored to be here tonight.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, I’m — I’m here tonight as a proud mother, as a proud Democrat…

(APPLAUSE)

… as a proud senator from New York…

(APPLAUSE)

… a proud American…

(APPLAUSE)

… and a proud supporter of Barack Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

My friends, it is time to take back the country we love. And whether you voted for me or you voted for Barack, the time is now to unite as a single party with a single purpose.

(APPLAUSE)

We are on the same team. And none of us can afford to sit on the sidelines. This is a fight for the future, and it’s a fight we must win together.

(APPLAUSE)

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches, advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights here at home and around the world…

(APPLAUSE)

… to see another Republican in the White House squander our promise of a country that really fulfills the hopes of our people. And you haven’t worked so hard over the last 18 months or endured the last eight years to suffer through more failed leadership.

(APPLAUSE)

No way, no how, no McCain.

(APPLAUSE)

Barack Obama is my candidate, and he must be our president.

(APPLAUSE)

Tonight, I ask you to remember what a presidential election is really about. When the polls have closed and the ads are finally off the air, it comes down to you, the American people, and your lives, and your children’s futures.

For me, it’s been a privilege to meet you in your homes, your workplaces, and your communities. Your stories reminded me that, every day, America’s greatness is bound up in the lives of the American people, your hard work, your devotion to duty, your love for your children, and your determination to keep going, often in the face of enormous obstacles.

You taught me so much, and you made me laugh, and, yes, you even made me cry.

(APPLAUSE)

You allowed me to become part of your lives, and you became part of mine.

I will always remember the single mom who had adopted two kids with autism. She didn’t have any health insurance, and she discovered she had cancer. But she greeted me with her bald head, painted with my name on it, and asked me to fight for health care for her and her children.

(APPLAUSE)

I will always remember the young man in a Marine Corps T-shirt who waited months for medical care. And he said to me, “Take care of my buddies. A lot of them are still over there. And then will you please take care of me?”

And I will always remember the young boy who told me his mom worked for the minimum wage, that her employer had cut her hours. He said he just didn’t know what his family was going to do.

I will always be grateful to everyone from all 50 states, Puerto Rico and the territories…

(APPLAUSE)

… who joined our campaign on behalf of all those people left out and left behind by the Bush administration. To my supporters, to my champions, to my sisterhood of the traveling pantsuits…

(APPLAUSE)

… from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you, because you never gave in and you never gave up. And together we made history.

And along the way, America lost two great Democratic champions who would have been here with us tonight, one of our finest young leaders, Arkansas Democratic Chair Bill Gwatney, who believed with all his heart…

(APPLAUSE)

… that America and the South should be Democratic from top to bottom.

And Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones, a dear friend to many of us, a loving mother, a courageous leader who never gave up her quest to make America fairer and smarter, stronger and better. Steadfast in her beliefs, a fighter of uncommon grace, she was an inspiration to me and to us all.

Our heart goes out to Stephanie’s son, Mervyn, Jr., and Bill’s wife, Rebecca, who traveled here to Denver to join this family of Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, Bill Gwatney and Stephanie Tubbs-Jones knew that, after eight years of George Bush, people are hurting at home and our standing has eroded around the world.

We have a lot of work ahead of us: jobs lost; houses gone; falling wages; rising prices; the Supreme Court in a right-wing headlock; and our government in partisan gridlock; the biggest deficit in our nation’s history; money borrowed from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis; Putin and Georgia; Iran and Iraq.

I ran for president to renew the promise of America, to rebuild the middle class and sustain the American dream, to provide opportunity to those who are willing to work hard for it and have that work rewarded, so they could save for college, a home, and retirement, afford gas and groceries, and have a little left over each month.

To promote a clean energy economy that will create millions of green-collar jobs, to create a health care system that is universal, high-quality, and affordable, so that every single parent knows their children will be taken care of.

(APPLAUSE)

We want to create a world-class education system and make college affordable again, to fight for an America that is defined by deep and meaningful equality, from civil rights to labor rights, from women’s rights to gay rights… (APPLAUSE)

… from ending discrimination to promoting unionization, to providing help for the most important job there is, caring for our families, and to help every child live up to his or her God-given potential, to make America once again a nation of immigrants and of laws, to restore fiscal sanity to Washington, and make our government an institution of the public good, not of private plunder.

Senator Clinton: To restore America’s standing in the world, to end the war in Iraq, bring our troops home with honor, care for our veterans, and give them the services they have earned.

(APPLAUSE)

We will work for an America again that will join with our allies in confronting our shared challenges, from poverty and genocide to terrorism and global warming.

Most of all, I ran to stand up for all those who have been invisible to their government for eight long years. Those are the reasons I ran for president, and those are the reasons I support Barack Obama for president.

(APPLAUSE)

I want you — I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me, or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him?

Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids?

Were you in it for that young boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage?

Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

We need leaders once again who can tap into that special blend of American confidence and optimism that has enabled generations before us to meet our toughest challenges, leaders who can help us show ourselves and the world that with our ingenuity, creativity, and innovative spirit, there are no limits to what is possible in America.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, this will not be easy. Progress never is. But it will be impossible if we don’t fight to put a Democrat back into the White House.

(APPLAUSE)

We need to elect Barack Obama, because we need a president who understands that America can’t compete in the global economy by padding the pockets of energy speculators while ignoring the workers whose jobs have been shipped overseas.

We need a president who understands we can’t solve the problems of global warming by giving windfall profits to the oil companies while ignoring opportunities to invest in the new technologies that will build a green economy.

We need a president who understands that the genius of America has always depended on the strength and vitality of the middle class.

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down.

(APPLAUSE)

And he knows that government must be about “we the people,” not “we the favored few.”

And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our times.

Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, we did it before with President Clinton and the Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

And if we do our part, we’ll do it again with President Obama and the Democrats.

(APPLAUSE)

Just think of what America will be as we transform our energy economy, create those millions of jobs, build a strong base for economic growth and shared prosperity, get middle-class families the tax relief they deserve.

And I cannot wait to watch Barack Obama sign into law a health care plan that covers every single American.

(APPLAUSE)

And we know that President Obama will end the war in Iraq responsibly, bring our troops home, and begin to repair our alliances around the world.

And Barack will have with him a terrific partner in Michelle Obama.

(APPLAUSE)

Anyone who saw Michelle’s speech last night knows she will be a great first lady for America.

(APPLAUSE) And Americans are fortunate that Joe Biden will be at Barack Obama’s side…

(APPLAUSE)

… a strong leader, a good man who understands both the economic stresses here at home and the strategic challenges abroad. He’s pragmatic, he’s tough, and he’s wise.

And Joe, of course, will be supported by his wonderful wife, Jill.

(APPLAUSE)

They will be a great team for our country.

Now, John McCain is my colleague and my friend. He has served our country with honor and courage. But we don’t need four more years of the last eight years…

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more economic stagnation and less affordable health care…

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more high gas prices and less alternative energy.. (OOTC:AEGC) .

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more jobs getting shipped overseas and fewer jobs created here at home…

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more skyrocketing debt, and home foreclosures, and mounting bills that are crushing middle-class families…

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more war and less diplomacy…

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: … more of a government where the privileged few come first and everyone else comes last.

AUDIENCE: No!

Senator Clinton: Well, John McCain says the economy is fundamentally sound. John McCain doesn’t think 47 million people without health insurance is a crisis. John McCain wants to privatize Social Security. And in 2008, he still thinks it’s OK when women don’t earn equal pay for equal work. (AUDIENCE BOOS)

Now, with an agenda like that, it makes perfect sense that George Bush and John McCain will be together next week in the Twin Cities, because these days they’re awfully hard to tell apart.

(APPLAUSE)

You know, America is still around after 232 years because we have risen to every challenge in every new time, changing to be faithful to our values of equal opportunity for all and the common good. And I know what that can mean for every man, woman, and child in America.

I’m a United States senator because, in 1848, a group of courageous women, and a few brave men, gathered in Seneca Falls, New York, many traveling for days and nights…

(APPLAUSE)

… to participate in the first convention on women’s rights in our history. And so dawned a struggle for the right to vote that would last 72 years, handed down by mother to daughter to granddaughter, and a few sons and grandsons along the way.

These women and men looked into their daughters’ eyes and imagined a fairer and freer world and found the strength to fight, to rally, to picket, to endure ridicule and harassment, and brave violence and jail.

And after so many decades, 88 years ago on this very day, the 19th Amendment, giving women the right to vote, became enshrined in our Constitution.

(APPLAUSE)

My mother was born before women could vote. My daughter got to vote for her mother for president. This is the story of America, of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

So how do we give this country back to them? By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her lives to bring slaves to freedom along the Underground Railroad.

On that path to freedom, Harriet Tubman had one piece of advice: “If you hear the dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there’s shouting after you, keep going. Don’t ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.”

(APPLAUSE)

And even in the darkest moments, that is what Americans have done. We have found the faith to keep going.

I have seen it. I have seen it in our teachers and our firefighters, our police officers, our nurses, our small-business owners, and our union workers. I’ve seen it in the men and women of our military.

In America, you always keep going. We’re Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

And, remember, before we can keep going, we’ve got to get going by electing Barack Obama the next president of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare. Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hangs in the balance.

I want you to think about your children and grandchildren come Election Day. Think about the choices your parents and grandparents made that had such a big impact on your lives and on the life of our nation.

We’ve got to ensure that the choice we make in this election honors the sacrifices of all who came before us and will fill the lives of our children with possibility and hope.

That is our duty, to build that bright future, to teach our children that, in America, there is no chasm too deep, no barrier too great, no ceiling too high for all who work hard, who keep going, have faith in God, in our country, and each other.

That is our mission, Democrats. Let’s elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden for that future worthy of our great country.

Thank you. God bless you, and Godspeed.

Continue ReadingHillary Rodham Clinton’s Democratic Convention Speech

It’s a class war, stupid

If you only read one article about the 2008 election, make it this one – Matt Taibbi’s “It’s a Class War, Stupid” in Rolling Stone this month.

Taibbi’s article about the looming economic depression (yeah, you read that right – I didn’t say recession, I said depression) is spot on… and the mainstream media is playing Nero while Rome burns, talking about candidate’s wives dresses while people are beginning a show slide towards homelessness and starvation.

Okay, now, hold that thought. While we’re unable to find $5 billion for this simple program, and Sanders had to fight and claw to get even $250 million that was eventually slashed, here’s something else that’s going on. According to a recent report by the GAO, the Department of Defense has already “marked for disposal” hundreds of millions of dollars worth of spare parts — and not old spare parts, but new ones that are still on order! In fact, the GAO report claims that over half of the spare parts currently on order for the Air Force — some $235 million worth, or about the same amount Sanders unsuccessfully tried to get for the community health care program last year — are already marked for disposal! Our government is buying hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Defense Department crap just to throw it away!

“They’re planning on throwing this stuff away and it hasn’t even come in yet,” says Sanders.

According to the report, we’re spending over $30 million a year, and employing over 1,400 people, just to warehouse all the defense equipment we don’t need. For instance — we already have thousands of unneeded aircraft blades, but 7,460 on the way, at a cost of $2 million, which will join those already earmarked for the waste pile.

This is why you need to pay careful attention when you hear about John McCain claiming that he’s going to “look at entitlement program” waste as a means of solving the budget crisis, or when you tune into the debate about the “death tax.” We are in the midst of a political movement to concentrate private wealth into fewer and fewer hands while at the same time placing more and more of the burden for public expenditures on working people. If that sounds like half-baked Marxian analysis… well, shit, what can I say? That’s what’s happening. Repealing the estate tax (the proposal to phase it out by the year 2010 would save the Walton family alone $30 billion) and targeting “entitlement” programs for cuts while continually funneling an ever-expanding treasure trove of military appropriations down the befouled anus of pointless war profiteering, government waste and North Virginia McMansions — this is all part of a conversation we should be having about who gets what share of the national pie. But we’re not going to have that conversation, because we’re going to spend this fall mesmerized by the typical media-generated distractions, yammering about whether or not Michelle Obama’s voice is too annoying, about flag lapel pins, about Jeremiah Wright and other such idiotic bullshit.

Our economic reality is as brutal as it is for a simple reason: whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of revolutionary economic changes. In the kind of breathtakingly ironic development that only real life can imagine, the collapse of the Soviet Union has allowed global capitalism to get into the political unfreedom business, turning China and the various impoverished dictatorships and semi-dictatorships of the third world into the sweatshop of the earth. This development has cut the balls out of American civil society by forcing the export abroad of our manufacturing economy, leaving us with a service/managerial economy that simply cannot support the vast, healthy middle class our government used to work very hard to both foster and protect. The Democratic party that was once the impetus behind much of these changes, that argued so eloquently in the New Deal era that our society would be richer and more powerful overall if the spoils were split up enough to create a strong base of middle class consumers — that party panicked in the years since Nixon and elected to pay for its continued relevance with corporate money. As a result the entire debate between the two major political parties in our country has devolved into an argument over just how quickly to dismantle the few remaining benefits of American middle-class existence — immediately, if you ask the Republicans, and only slightly less than immediately, if you ask the Democrats.

The Republicans wanted to take Social Security, the signature policy underpinning of the middle class, and put it into private accounts — which is a fancy way of saying that they wanted to take a huge bundle of American taxpayer cash and invest it in the very companies, the IBMs and Boeings and GMs and so on, that are exporting our jobs abroad. They want the American middle class to finance its very own impoverishment! The Democrats say no, let’s keep Social Security more or less as is, and let that impoverishment happen organically.

Continue ReadingIt’s a class war, stupid

It’ ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe.

Over there at stAllio!’s digs, he’s been keeping a good hand in at critiquing the local political situation.

Just to sum things up a bit for you out-of-towners – Indianapolis has a bunch of dirty cops; after a string of high-profile drug shootings, Mayor Ballard frantically tries to keep it together; and Jon Elrod quit his District 7 race like a little girl and went running back to District 97.

ANYWAYS, stAllio! had a particularly insightful take down of radio personality Abdul Hakim-Shabazz’s recent major public malfunction: “what this town needs are a couple good police beatings.”

Abdul apparently didn’t have any adequate defense to stAllio’s post, so he shot back with this:

Steph,
Go get a drink and relax. You are way too uptight. I thought you would have mellowed out after getting married.

To which I pop my head up from gardening the front flower beds and pronounce a particularly insightful: “What? WTF is he on about?”
I guess he thinks Ben Berg and I are the same person? I kinda wish, actually. He’s a better writer than I am, and a cool local artist. I do have a lovely piece of his art in my home:

Evil Fever by StAllio!

Abdul, perhaps you should lay off the coke a bit.

Continue ReadingIt’ ain’t me you’re lookin’ for, babe.

Anecdotal Evidence

People I know who have either been laid off or are on the verge of having it happen, or who are otherwise struggling financially:

8

Yes, that would be 8. Eight.

There’s no way you can tell me we’re not in a recession. And I’m frustrated with anyone thinking about voting in more of the same old crap. There’s at least one guy I work with that I really want to kick in the shins every time I hear him start in on politics. Even the sound of his voice sets me off now.

When it was one person, we thought, “oh, we could help them in an emergency, if things get too bad.” When it’s eight people – OMFG. We can’t float loans to eight people.

And though we’re doing okay, it’s bound to swing around and affect us soon, so we’re frantically saving every penny, which is good for us, but bad for the economy as a whole.

I’m as anxious for January 20, 2009 as everyone else, but it won’t mean a thing if McCain “Four More Years” gets in office.

Continue ReadingAnecdotal Evidence

McCains Fail to Pay Taxes on San Diego Property

According to Newsweek, the McCains have been in arrears for four years on taxes on one of the seven properties they own – a beachfront property in LaJolla, California.

Of course as they story broke, they scrambled to get their taxes paid. Mostly. Now if this had been you or me defaulting, we’d be out on our ears.

Mrs. McCain is a beer heiress with an estimated $100 million fortune and, along with her husband, she owns at least seven properties, including condos in California and Arizona.

San Diego County officials, it turns out, have been sending out tax notices on the La Jolla property, an oceanfront condo, for four years without receiving a response. If people are looking out for rental condos and apartments, they can consider Saida Towers South PadreCounty and get the best deals for rentals records show the bills, which were mailed to a Phoenix address associated with Mrs. McCain’s trust, were returned by the post office. According to a McCain campaign aide, who requested anonymity when discussing a private matter, an elderly aunt of Mrs. McCain’s lives in the condo, and the bank that manages the trust has not been receiving tax bills on the property so she planned to find guardianship lawyer naples fl to put an end to her grievances related to property. Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. County officials say the trust still owes an additional $1,742 for this year, an amount that is overdue and will go into default July 1. Told of the outstanding $1,742, the aide said: “The trust has paid all bills shown owing as of today and will pay all other bills due.”

Dan McAllister, treasurer- tax collector for San Diego County, said that about 3 percent of San Diego’s approximately 1 million property owners default on their property taxes each year. The county assesses a 1.5 percent penalty for each month that goes by unpaid and puts houses up for sale after five years. “We do hear an awful lot of excuses for why people don’t pay,” McAllister said. “Under the law, the property owner is responsible for keeping the address current. We’re only as good as the information we are given.”

Continue ReadingMcCains Fail to Pay Taxes on San Diego Property

Karl Rove’s Country Club

Karl Rove, the Nixon/Bush auteur of dirty politics, seems to be slipping his his age — yesterday he had this to say at a Republican insider’s breakfast about Barack Obama:

Even if you never met him, you know this guy. He’s the guy at the country club with the beautiful date, holding a martini and a cigarette that stands against the wall and makes snide comments about everyone who passes by.

What? Karl Rove’s country club allows blacks now? Well. I won’t be going there any more. La di da.

Rove is really confused – because that guy he’s describing is George W. Bush in full glory – check him out:

Continue ReadingKarl Rove’s Country Club

Racist America comes out of the woodwork to attack Barack Obama

Shakespeare’s Sister has an ongoing multi-part “Obama Racism Watch” documenting incidents of racism in the media directed at Senator Obama (similar to their multi-part series “Hillary Clinton Sexism Watch” that is at 106 entries and shows no signs of stopping.)

I won’t go into every incident because they cover it much better than I, but I wanted to note some of the stuff that has happened just in the last few days, because it is just beyond my understanding, and I have to say something about it because it’s so – shocking.

Fox News’ “Terrorist Fist Jab”
Apparently, after introducing her husband to the crowd, Michelle and Barack did a “fist bump” as seen below. Now if you know anyone under 25, they’ve done this — it’s a thing that young people do – an alternative to high-fiving, or shaking hands, specifically done by people when they are awesome. I think I’ve probably done it, although I probably shouldn’t. It’s not a black or white thing, it’s just another way the youths of America are expressing themselves because they are cool.

But Fox News host E.D. Hill had this to say about it: “A fist bump? A pound? A terrorist fist jab? The gesture everyone seems to interpret differently.”

Michelle Barack Fist Bump
Michelle Barack Fist Bump

I think the only people interpreting this as a “Terrorist Fist Jab” is Fox News. Now it’s not hugely surprising to me that people at Fox would not recognize how awesome people greet one another, because no one at Fox is actually awesome. But how did the word “terrorist” get inserted in there? Really, anything you don’t recognize done by people who aren’t the same color as you is now terrorism? How old are these old farts anyway? And when do we get to shuffle them off to the retirement home?

The “Obama as Curious George” T-Shirts
Kelly Newcom of Ash Flat, AR made these T-shirts of Barack Obama as Curious George. But he specifically claims that the are “not racist” ignoring the years and years of shameful history where people used monkeys as derogatory images depicting African Americans.

Racist Anti-Obama Shirt
Racist Anti-Obama Shirt

The reason the image in the above shirts has a bag over his head is because just recently Marietta, Georgia bar owner Mike Norman got in major copyright infringement trouble for selling this shirt in his bar:

Racist Anti-Obama Shirt
Racist Anti-Obama Shirt

What’s bothersome to me is the huge number of blog posts out there with the titles of “is this a racist image?” as though there’s really some possibility that it isn’t.

FoxNews declares Senator Obama’s wife is his “Baby Mama”
Fox News does it again with this caption they showed yesterday under a picture of Michelle Obama:

Racist Fox News Caption
Racist Fox News Caption

For those of you who may not be familiar with the term “Baby Mama” it means a woman who is the mother of your children, but with whom you are not in a relationship. It is a term used somewhat in the African American community, but not widely, and it’s denounced by some African Americans.

But Michelle Obama is MARRIED to Barack and is his wife, not his “baby mama.” Fox using the term seem to be trying to imply that Senator Obama and his wife aren’t married to each other.

On the other hand — Now McCain’s first wife, the one he dumped after she was paralyzed in a car accident and had to learn to walk againshe is McCain’s Baby Mama. As is the first wife of any middle-aged white guy at Fox News.

The Obama Sock Monkey
Apparently, someone actually thinks that this Obama Sock Monkey is a viable product for sale and not a unbelievably racist image. Feel free to contact them and tell them they’re douchebags. I can’t even imagine how someone could create this, let alone mass produce it.

Racist Anti-Obama Doll
Racist Anti-Obama Doll

Racism aimed at Senator Obama’s Young Daughters
Even Senator Obama’s young daughters are under attack. Michelle Obama Watch notes that an “artist’ named Yazmany Arboleda in New York produced an “Exhibition” titled “The Assassination of Barack Obama” that was investigated by the New York Police and the Secret Service.

Among the images in this exhibition are a giant picture of Senator Obama’s daughters, Sasha and Malia Obama, under the title “Nappy Headed Hos.”

Racist Insults to Children
Racist Insults to Children

I don’t even know how to conclude this post, really. I know that racism is, unfortunately, still alive and breathing in the United States, but it still feels like a kick in the stomach to see things like expressed like this so publicly. As if these people actually expect the people around them to nod their head in agreement instead of wanting to kick the crap out of them.

Continue ReadingRacist America comes out of the woodwork to attack Barack Obama