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In His Speech, Martin O'Malley Put Our Nation's Values and Ideals at the Forefront of His Advocacy
Last edited Sat May 30, 2015, 01:09 PM - Edit history (1)
I listened with great interest and excitement to my presidential choice in our Democratic primary today, Martin O'Malley, as he announced his candidacy. I found him engaging, compassionate, and passionate about his ideals and belief that we need to put our progressive values and ideals at the forefront of our politics.
Right there, in the very second sentence of his address, O'Malley put our nation's diverse people at the head of his declaration and challenged us to be inclusive and undiscriminating in our efforts to effect the changes we want.
O'Malley:
Our nation was founded on two self-evident truths that all of us are created equal, and that we are endowed by our Creator with the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
With these words, the American dream began.
No fine print. No expiration date.
All of us are included.
Women and men.
Black and white people.
Irish Americans, Asian Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Americans.
Young and old. Rich and poor. Workers and Business owners. Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and straight Americans.
Every person is important, each of us is needed.
In our idea of country, there is no such thing as a spare American.
Next, the former governor of my state of Maryland outlined his economic appeal and framed the inequality as a 'growing injustice' and a corporate takeover of the 'American dream.' In his assessment, O'Malley promoted optimism that we could reclaim our values, and, once again, become 'architects of our own future.'
O'Malley:
It is the gap between the strong and just country our children need for us to be and the country we are in danger of becoming.
For today in America, 70 percent of us are earning the same or less than they were 12 years ago. This is the first time that has happened this side of World War II.
Today in America, family owned businesses and farms are struggling to compete with ever larger concentrations of corporate power...
Today in America, with dreams of college, a decent paying job, and a secure retirement slipping beyond the reach of so very many, the American Dream seems to be hanging by a thread.
...yet, for America there is always a yet.
The final thread that holds us just might be the strongest.
It is the thread of the generosity, the compassion, and the love of one another that brings us together as One American People.
For over 200 years, we've been the architects of our own future.
And now we must build anew today.
I liked that he made a specific reference to the unrest in Baltimore (not unexpected for a former mayor of the city), and I thought he framed it well - even though he lapsed into suggesting an economic solution to what ailed the city, instead of directly calling out the rabid police force for their violence (as I would have liked), Martin O'Malley appealed, once again, to our better nature.
O'Malley:
Last month, television sets around the world were filled with the anger and the rage, and the flames of some of the humblest and hardest hit neighborhoods of Baltimore.
For all of us who have given so much of our energies to making our city a safer, fairer, more just and more prosperous place, it was a heartbreaking night in the life of our city.
But there is something to be learned from that night, and there is something to be offered to our country from those flames.
For what took place here was not only about race, not only about policing in America.
It's about everything it is supposed to mean to be an American.
The scourge of hopelessness that happened to ignite here that evening transcends race or geography.
That said, there was certainly a strong indictment of the corporatism infecting our government and our politics.
O'Malley:
Our economic and political system is upside down and backwards and it is time to turn it around.
What happened to our economy -- what happened to the American Dream -- did not happen by chance.
Nor was it merely the result of global forces somehow beyond our control.
Powerful, wealthy special interests here at home have used our government to create -- in our own country -- an economy that is leaving a majority of our people behind.
An economy that has so concentrated wealth in the hands of the very few that it has taken opportunity from the homes of the many.
An economy where a majority of our people are unheard, unseen, un-needed, and left to conclude that their lives and labors are literally worth less today than they were yesterday, and will be worth less still tomorrow.
We are allowing our land of opportunity to be turned into a land of inequality.
Main Street struggles, while Wall Street soars.
Tell me how it is, that not a single Wall Street CEO was convicted of a crime related to the 2008 economic meltdown. Not. A. Single. One.
Tell me how it is, that you can get pulled over for a broken tail light in our country, but if you wreck the nation's economy you are untouchable.
This is not how our economy is supposed to work!
This is not how our country is supposed to work!
This is not the American Dream!
And it does not have to be this way!
This generation still has time to become great.
We have saved the world before, and we must save our country now, and we will do that by rebuilding the American Dream!
...and later in his address O'Malley returned to his combativeness towards corporate greed and influence:
We must put our national interest first, we must put America first.
But we cannot rebuild the American Dream here at home by catering to the voices of the privileged and the powerful.
Let's be honest. They were the ones who turned our economy upside-down in the first place. And they are the only ones who are benefiting from it.
We need to prosecute cheats, we need to reinstate Glass-Steagall, and if a bank is too big to fail without wrecking our nation's economy, then it needs to be broken up before it breaks us again.
Goldman Sachs is one of the biggest repeat-offending investment banks in America. Recently, the CEO of Goldman Sachs let his employees know that he'd be just fine with either Bush or Clinton.
I bet he would.
Well, I've got news for the bullies of Wall Street.
The presidency is not a crown to be passed back and forth by you between two royal families.
It is a sacred trust to be earned from the people of the United States, and exercised on behalf of the people of the United States.
The only way we are going to rebuild the American Dream is if we re-take control of our own American government!
O'Malley spoke (too) briefly about Maryland's passage of 'Marriage Equality' under his leadership.
He also briefly mentioned his environmental efforts, declaring, "Climate change is real. We must create an American jobs agenda to build a new renewable energy future."
I also liked his specific remarks on immigrants and immigration and the way he appealed to our values as compassionate Americans. O'Malley spoke of the passage, under his leadership in Maryland, of the 'DREAM Act' and spoke eloquently about the American values which compelled him to his strong and recognized advocacy.
O'Malley:
For the sake of our country's security, and our country's well-being, and our country's economic growth, we must also bring 11 million of our neighbors out of the shadows by passing comprehensive immigration reform.
Because the enduring symbol of our nation is not the barbed wire fence. It is the Statue of Liberty.
We are a nation of immigrants. We are a compassionate and generous people. And if we act according to our principles and the better angels of our nature, if we return to our true selves, the dream will live again.
O'Malley outlined a 'National Security Strategy' which is based on cooperation between nations and describes 'threats' to the nation in broader terms than just enemies of the state:
Together, we must construct a New National Security Strategy and build new alliances that are forward-seeing and forward-acting.
The center of this new strategy must be the reduction of threats. Fast-evolving threats from violent extremism, pandemic, cyberattacks, nuclear proliferation, nation-state failures, to the drought, famine, and floods of climate change.
Together, we must craft a New Foreign Policy of Engagement and Collaboration. We must join with like-minded people around the world -- especially with nations here in our own hemisphere -- for the cause we share of a rising global middle class.
I appreciated that O'Malley's wasn't just an economic-themed address, although he did return to economics as both causes and remedies for some of the problems he outlined. His address sounded, to me, like an appeal to our morality and values, in the best sense of those ideals. I think that type of focus broadens his message beyond legislation and seeks to rally Americans behind a vision of our better selves. That's the governor I've come to know over the years. He's an authentic believer in progressive values and that has guided much of his policy here in Maryland over the years; from the environment; to schools and education; to wages; to immigration; to the repeal of the death penalty; to his support for marriage equality.
...some 'poetry' at the end of his remarks:
The poet laureate of the American Dream, Bruce Springsteen, once asked: Is a dream a lie, if it don't come true? Or is it something worse?
Whether the American dream becomes a lie, or becomes an ongoing truth that our children can enjoy, can build upon, can live, is really up to you and me.
It is up to all of us.
It's not about Wall Street, not about the big five banks, it's not even about big money trying to buy our elections.
It's about us.
It is about whether, together, We the People still have the will to become great Americans.
I believe we do.
I believe Martin O'Malley is the best candidate to make that dream a reality. I hope folks here will consider his candidacy for president in that light, as well.
full transcript of Martin O'Malley's presidential announcement address (as provided by the campaign): http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Martin-OMalley-Presidental-Announcement-Remarks-305565331.html?partner=nbcnews
32 replies
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I know you've spoken highly of him, JustAnotherGen. I respect your posts and you a great deal!
+1000
of a fine speech.
I really like what I heard from him today, and I am looking forward to hearing more from him.
I will consider him carefully as they all enter the debates.
Of course I also await more overblown drama between posters here. That stuff is priceless. 
so much of our bickering is so entirely predictable. 
Possible titles:
Mountains Out of Molehills
Feelings
Burning Bridges!
Throw Some Kerosene Onto the Fire
Drama, Who Me?
Response to bigtree (Original post)
