Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Hillary: Thumbing her nose at the haters

marjorie says...

Hi Dad. It occurred to me that the best way for us to reference this speech was to simply post it here. Hopefully MSNBC will have it up for awhile.



I have several thoughts about this performance, now that I've digested it.

First and foremost, it showed just how strong Hillary is--which is why she's been able to withstand all the mysoginators since 1992.

and second, and equally important, Hillary made a few statements buried in the politicking that bear repeating.

As you know, there are loads of things I disagree with Hillary about (Obama also). But I appreciated greatly her admonition to follow the values, not the person:


"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 boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?"

The cynic in me questions her sincerity, but at the same time appreciates her acknowledgment that politics should always be about organizing and collective struggle. Not about the individual. I wish more politicians got this.

I also appreciated the passage she invoked by Harriet Tubman:

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.
If you hear the dogs, keep going.
If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.
If they're shouting after you, keep going.
Don't ever stop. Keep going.
If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.
Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

A little overwrought perhaps for a speech of this nature, but in a power-based world anyone who's been on the losing end of the stick (which if you're on the right side is probably more often than you'd like) understands this sentiment. It's good to hear it invoked with such passion in a world in which keeping cynicism at bay is always quite the task.