Our President headlined Millwaukee's Laborfest celebration yesterday and he was on fire, with energy and passion, sounding like the Barack Obama of campaign 08, and it was a joy to watch and listen. The speech is 33 minutes long and some won't have the time or desire to watch all of it so I've offered a taste of it below the squiggle. I'm optomistic some will watch and take to heart his remarks towards the end where he begs us not to let cynicism win over hope.
But you know what, if I were looking for a good job that lets me build some security for my family, I’d join a union. If I were busting my butt in the service industry and wanted an honest day’s pay for an honest day’s work, I’d join a union. If I were a firefighter or police officer risking my life and helping to keep my community safe, and wanted to make sure I came home safely to my family, I’d join a union. I’d want a union looking out for me.
And if I cared about these things, I’d also want more Democrats looking out for me. I’m just saying. Because when the rest of the country is working to raise wages, but Republicans in Congress won’t, it ain’t right. Not only is it not right, it ain’t right. (Laughter.) When the rest of the country is working to open up more businesses, but Republicans in Congress block investments that would help more businesses grow, it ain’t right. When unions and CEOs, when law enforcement and the evangelical community, when folks who usually don’t agree on anything agree that we should be fixing our broken immigration system, but the Republicans in the House of Representatives have been sitting on a bill for more than a year, it ain’t right.
So that’s why we have to keep fighting. At the beginning of the last century, people fought against the idea of a 40-hour workweek, they fought against weekends, they fought against workplace safety laws. 80 years ago, people fought against the idea of Social Security. 50 years ago, people fought against the idea of Medicare. But guess what? We won those fights.
Cynicism is fashionable these days, but cynicism didn’t put anybody on the moon. Cynicism never won a war, it never cured a disease, it never started a business, it never fed a young mind, it never built a road or a bridge.
Cynicism is a bad choice. Hope is the better choice. Hope is what gives us courage. Hope is what gave soldiers courage to storm a beach. Hope is what gives young people the strength to march for women’s rights, and worker’s rights, and civil rights, and voting rights, and gay rights, and immigration rights.
Hope, the belief that there are better days ahead; the belief that together, we can build up our middle class and hand down something better to our kids -- that’s what built America. And America’s best days are still ahead. I believe it. You need to believe it, too. Let’s get to work.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcript:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/...
Two months to go. As every Democrat knows, we win if we get out the vote. But we also know the GOP has done everything the Koch money can buy to keep our people from the polls. Isn't it time to pull together and give all we can in time and money to hold the Senate and increase our numbers in the House. Losing is not an option.