Friday, August 21, 2020

Convention Connection, Day 4

There were several great moments on the final day of the DNC last night, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington giving a speech about how Joe Biden gave him to courage to work on his stutter like Biden himself overcame, Julia Louis-Dreyfus getting in some brutal digs at the Tangerine Tyrant, but Joe Biden's acceptance speech may be the best speech I've ever seen the man give, and it could not have happened at a more crucial time in the tapestry of American history.

Just a week ago yesterday was the third anniversary of the events in Charlottesville. 
Remember seeing those neo-Nazis and Klansmen and white supremacists coming out of the fields with lighted torches? Veins bulging? Spewing the same anti-Semitic bile heard across Europe in the '30s? Remember the violent clash that ensued between those spreading hate and those with the courage to stand against it? 
Remember what the president said?  There were quote, "very fine people on both sides." It was a wake-up call for us as a country. And for me, a call to action. At that moment, I knew I'd have to run. My father taught us that silence was complicity. And I could not remain silent or complicit. At the time, I said we were in a battle for the soul of this nation. And we are.
One of the most important conversations I've had this entire campaign is with someone who is too young to vote. I met with six-year old Gianna Floyd, a day before her Daddy George Floyd was laid to rest. She is incredibly brave. I'll never forget. When I leaned down to speak with her, she looked into my eyes and said "Daddy, changed the world." Her words burrowed deep into my heart. Maybe George Floyd's murder was the breaking point. 
Maybe John Lewis' passing the inspiration. However it has come to be, America is ready to in John's words, to lay down "the heavy burdens of hate at last" and to do the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism. America's history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we've made our greatest progress. That we've found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more. 
I have always believed you can define America in one word: Possibilities. That in America, everyone, and I mean everyone, should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them. 
We can never lose that. In times as challenging as these, I believe there is only one way forward. As a united America. United in our pursuit of a more perfect Union. United in our dreams of a better future for us and for our children. United in our determination to make the coming years bright. 
Are we ready?  I believe we are. This is a great nation. And we are a good and decent people. This is the United States of America. And there has never been anything we've been unable to accomplish when we've done it together. 
The Irish poet Seamus Heaney once wrote:
"History says,
Don't hope on this side of the grave,
But then, once in a lifetime
The longed-for tidal wave
Of justice can rise up,
And hope and history rhyme" 
This is our moment to make hope and history rhyme.

Joe Biden gets it.  It was a beautiful speech. He understands America is its people, and the choices our leaders make in the name of those people. And right now, the guy in the Oval Office?

He only cares about himself.  Period. That's it.

Biden's not perfect by any stretch. He still has a lot to answer for regarding his political decisions over the years, and how they hurt people. Guy wasn't even in my top five in 2019.  But if I had seen this Joe Biden years ago, I would have held him in higher regard. This is the Joe that Barack Obama saw in 2008.

We need to make sure he wins.

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