President Obama spoke at the high school commencement Monday night about the power of community, the "bigness of spirit," and the value of unity.
The gist of his message centered on how a community set aside its differences to come together and rebuild after the tornado that nearly wiped out the entire city. His themes touched on the "power of shared effort," and forging a new vision when everything seems hopeless. His primary themes of hope and community are woven throughout the entire twenty minutes. I thought it was an inspiring and touching speech. If it needs a summation, it is his statement that "we are better together than on our own."
At one point in the speech, he mentioned that right after the tornado, the community came together for a meeting and each person was given a Post-it note to write down what their vision was for the community. 1500 Post-its later, there is a wall with all of them on it, and architects are following the suggestions for the rebuilding process. The President quipped, "I'm thinking of trying it with Congress! Give them some Post-it notes."
If only it were that simple.
Readers will remember a year ago I was in Missouri visiting Bon and her husband when the Joplin tornado hit. Neither one of us have forgotten that evening or the devastating footage afterward. Both of us made donations to help out. I'm glad to see the town has bounced back somewhat, but there's still a long way to go.
Remember Mitt Romney's message to Joplin last year: you're on your own.
We cannot — we cannot afford to do those things without jeopardizing the future for our kids. It is simply immoral, in my view, for us to continue to rack up larger and larger debts and pass them on to our kids, knowing full well that we’ll all be dead and gone before it’s paid off. It makes no sense at all.
Nope. No sense, he says. What say you, Missouri voters?
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