Obama race speech today...

[Larry Gude (Premo)]

To be delivered around noon, est;

"My fellow Americans, there has been much talk and argument and, frankly, rancor, about race of late and it's getting a bit more heated than it ought to. I understand dissent and opposition, it's the American way but, I only understand it in context of disagreement on the best route to take to get to a common destination; a more perfect union.

Now, I promised you all, if elected, a new path, new ideas, new hope and change and I meant it as change not for the worse but, for the better. For all Americans. Not just another round of get even-ism. Not just politics as usual payoffs and spoils of victory. When I said 'I won' some months back I meant that in terms of 'I get to drive'. For now. That doesn't mean everyone else sits in the back and shuts up. Far from it. I wanna know short cuts that might save time. I wanna hear about the scenic route that might make the journey more better. We can do at least some of that. However, at this time, I have the privilege and the responsibility to set the general course and we're not going backwards. We're not looking over our shoulders the whole time and argue about the last exit or some dead end we already tried.

To that end, I'd like to point out that this race business is misguided and a waste of time and for obvious reasons. My skin color may be that of a black man, of an African American but, I have the blood and the genes of white folks coursing through my veins as well. That makes me kinda unique. That makes me, in my heart, about as American as it gets. I'm a mutt. I'm a mix. Anyone who saw the movie 'Stripes' knows where I am going with this. For those who haven't, it's a good thing. It's an American thing. You do understand it. We all do.

So, let's set aside this bickering about what's on the outside and focus on what's on the inside; a faith and belief in the greatest nation in the history of this good earth. No one can say we got where we are today by always being right. No one can say we got here by always being fair. No one can say we got here by one faction or another always getting their way. Far from it. Our history has joy and greatness. It also has shame and bitterness. However, the one thing it ALWAYS has had, is the American idea of we are all created equal and the American dream that we, Americans, are always striving, however bumpy or even sometimes lost along the way, for a better America for all Americans.

To that end, it is my belief that we need a basic health care right in this nation for all. We do not want to be a nation where the hungry sift through garbage cans. We do not want to be a nation where a child is sick and dying when the simplest of health care is just not available. We do not want our poor and tired and hungry to always be so.

It is a basic common good for us to make sure that everyone, every race, creed, religion, all backgrounds can, if everything else has gone wrong in their life, at least see a knowing doctor and a caring nurse and get well. We all want that and that is the path we are on. We are not, as I have said, going to agree on the route but, dammit, we will get there.

To that end..."




And this is where my fake speech comes to an end. Every simple, effective solution I see is anathema to half of us. Evey simple effective solution those people see is abhorrent to the rest of us.