February 18, 2008

'New' concepts of Hope and Change?

I recently heard Barack Obama speak in bleak terms about the temptation of building a bridge back to the 20th Century by nominating Hillary Clinton.

Today I also saw complaints from Obama enthusiasts that Clinton has taken from her opponent the concepts of 'change' and 'hope.'

Then, on the same day, I see the Michelle Obama videoclip and text excerpt titled "For the First Time in My Adult Lifetime, I Am Really Proud of My Country."
    "What we have learned over this year is that hope is making a comeback.  It is making a comeback.  And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country.  And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.  And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment.  I've seen people who are hungry to be unified around some basic common issues, and it's made me proud."

-=-=-=- Time-tunneling to the past when people were 'different' -=-=-=-
Excerpts from a speech about Hope and Change

Tonight I want to talk with you about my hope for the future, my faith in the American people, and my vision of the kind of country we can build, together.
. . .
I have news for the forces of greed and the defenders of the status quo: your time has come--and gone. It's time for a change in America.
. . .
This election is about putting power back in your hands and putting government back on your side.  It's about putting people first.
. . .
That's why I'm so committed to making sure every American gets the health care that saved my mother's life, and that women's health care gets the same attention as men's...
. . .
If you want to know where I come by the passionate commitment I have to bringing people together without regard to race, it all started with my grandfather.
. . .
Frankly, I'm fed up with politicians in Washington lecturing the rest of us about "family values."  Our families have values.  But our government doesn't.
. . .
Our people are pleading for change, but government is in the way.  It has been hijacked by privileged, private interests.
. . .
When I am your President, the rest of the world will not look down on us with pity, but up to us with respect again.
. . .
or if, like the great civil rights pioneer Fannie Lou Hamer, you're just plain old sick and tired of being sick and tired -- then join us, work with us, win with us. And we can make our country the country it was meant to be.
. . .
[Bush] has never balanced a government budget.  But I have, eleven times.
. . .
We will build an American community again.  The choice we offer is not conservative or liberal.  In many ways it's not even Republican or Democratic, It's different.  It's new.  And it will work.
. . .
We'll say: Everybody can borrow the money to go to college.  But you must do your part.  You must pay it back -- from your paychecks, or better yet, by going back home and serving your communities . . . caring for the sick, or working with the elderly or people with disabilities, or helping young people to stay off drugs and out of gangs, giving us all a sense of new hope and limitless possibilities ...
. . .
It's also about our common community.  Tonight every one of you knows deep in your heart that we are too divided.
. . .
It is time to heal America.  And so we must say to every American: look beyond the stereotypes that blind us.  We need each other.  All of us, we need each other.
. . .
Them, and them, and them.  But this is America.  There is no them;  there is only us.  One nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all.
. . .
We can seize this moment, we can make it exciting and energizing and heroic to be an American again.  We can renew our faith in ourselves and each other, and restore our sense of unity and community...
. . .
But I cannot do it alone.  No President can.  We must do it together.  It won't be easy and it won't be quick.  We didn't get into this mess overnight, and we won't get out of it overnight.  But we can do it--with our commitment and our creativity and our diversity and our strength.  I want every person in this hall and every citizen in this land to reach out and join us in a great new adventure to chart a bold new future.
. . .
. . . a country of boundless hopes and endless dreams; a country that once again lifts up its people, and inspires the world.
. . .
I end tonight where it all began for me:  I still believe in a place called Hope.


--- Bill Clinton, July 16, 1992
      Excerpts from his speech accepting the nomination
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Full speech here.

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