For those of you who didn't catch former POTUS William Jefferson Clinton speak last night at the Democratic National Convention, go check it on YouTube. President Clinton will unfortunately always go down as a President who was impeached because of "lying" about an extra-marital affair. My feelings about that then and now are simple, if his wife was willing to forgive this incident, then so should we as a people of this country. A downfall of his Presidency was the signing of NAFTA, which opened up all the free trade and outsourcing that we are going through now. However, most people don't know or don't remember was that in the bill in 1998 there was an option to review the effects of NAFTA and if there was not a benefit to this country, then it would be repeled. Of course, that was the year he was so busy trying to save his job that this got overlooked.
At any rate, to get back to last night, WOW is all one can say about the former President's speaking ability. I truly believe the man could sell ice to the Eskimos. He made a truly amazing point early on about how the hate and dislike for the opposite parties needs to stop. "The politics of constant conflict may be good, but what is good politics does not necessarily work in the real world. What works in the real world is cooperation.", what a great truth. The business of politics is dependent on coorperating together. "No one is always right, and a broke clock is right twice a day.", a simplistic statement but one that is so true. The politics of hate and distrust lead to a divided nation. One side believing the other is the enemy and vice versa gets nothing accomplished and leads us to a future at the crossroads. "Democracy does not have to be a bloodsport, that it can be an honorable enterprise that advances the public interest.", needless to say that got a standing ovation for the former President, and it is an amazing line. What a truth. Politics should not be about who's right, but about the best interest of this country. And by the country, that means the whole not a select few.
People forget that when President Clinton left office, he left this country a better place than when he took it. Plain and simple that tells me that is someone who did their job successfully. President Obama took office with a broken economy. He has not solved it all yet, but most likely no one would be able to fix the economy in that time period. He did stop the freefall and has led us back on track, but in order to fix this economy and this divided nation, we all need to forget our petty disagreements and work together. Politicians and citizens working together in the best interest of our nation that is how we get our country back. The country belongs to us and we all need to work together, even if we do have philosophical disagreements. In this nation, we do have to stradle the fence to get things done, because that is the price of freedom. Freedom of expression means you have to respect what a person has to say even if what that person says is something you hate and despise, because you would expect that for what you have to say. No one said it was easy, but that's America and it truly is advanced citizenship.
We the people of this nation need to make a stand together. I don't care if you love Romney and hate Obama or vice versa, but I ask that you go out and vote. It is not a right. It is a civic duty! We have to have intellictual debate, not disagreements that led to dissention. Debate moves policy. Disagreement destroys it. Speak your mind, but respects others viewpoints. Remember no one is always right, and somewhere in the middle of the debate between two opposing voices lies the best possible solution that works for the greater good. We may dislike politicians, but we need them and we need to give them our mind when necessary. It is the duty of every American citizen to speak their mind if they feel that something our leadership is doing is not helping. It is not unpatriotic. It is the definition of patriotism. It is following your Constitutional rights and there is nothing more American. We need a nation of leaders, not a nation of followers, who are content to say that there is nothing I can do. My voice is unimportant is the most ignorant thing a person can say. In this age, there is access to free speech everywhere. It is easier to communicate with our leaders than ever before; it is time to use these technologies for something good not just to tell the world what you are doing at a certain time. I love this country very much and yes I am scared of the way we are going, but one has to hope that we can get by our pettiness and move towards collective greatness.
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