On this election morning, I am reminded of the second half of Jeff Daniels’ speech in the the first episode of “The Newsroom.” Here’s my slightly edited version…
“We sure used to be (the greatest country). We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons not self-interest, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons not for greed or spite.
We waged wars on poverty, not poor people.
We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest.
We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world’s greatest scientists, artists and the world’s greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men.
We aspired to intelligence; we didn’t belittle it; it didn’t make us feel inferior.
We didn’t identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, we voted for the best government, not the most or the least – and we didn’t scare so easy…”
And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed and educated. By great men and women who were revered.”
(full & unedited speech here [http://goo.gl/QSJUP], C/O Brian Hines)
If you vote today, vote for the aspirations of our original patriots, not those of the corporate CEOs and boards of directors, who camouflage themselves with terms like patriots and TEA party.
My 2¢ Worth…
That Newsroom speech caught my attention and my passion, too. It’s not until someone broke it down that way that I really realized how far off track we’ve gotten, as a nation. Thank you for brining it to the forefront of conversation.