Some of the speech I wish the President had made (please
share if you agree):
My fellow Americans, the State of Our Union is “strong.” The
State of Our Politics, however, is in critical condition.
In America this morning, a nurse and a teacher arose before
dawn to go into work caring for our most vulnerable populations. Restaurants
served their patrons. A cop walked the beat. A firefighter ran into a burning
building. Americans are strong and more resilient than ever. The capacity
of Americans to work for a better world is well established.
But in this chamber and across the various levels of the
political spectrum, a poison is coursing through the veins of our body politic.
It is fed by fear and isolationism. It is metastasizing across social media
where vicious attacks become viral sensations. It destroys our good faith in
the institutions of a civilized society. It helps and gives encouragement to our
enemies.
Only Americans possess the ability to damage and undermine
American values. We do this when we limit voting rights, stay home on Election
Day and surrender to cynicism. We do this when we pull the ladder of progress
up behind us and say “I’ve got mine, you stay out.” We do this when we argue
for decades against ensuring that all citizens have access to quality
healthcare. We do this when 20 first graders are brutally murdered in a public
school and we do nothing about it.
Nothing.
Shame on us. Shame on all of us, without exception. The
American people are getting up every morning and going to work to take care of
themselves; to provide a better future for their children; to serve their
communities. Why isn’t the Congress doing at least as much for kids as a cafeteria
worker? Why does it take a campaign of shaming Congress to pass a bill
providing medical care for 9/11 first responders? Why is it that the mass shooting
of civilians on a regular basis is not the subject of official inquiry by a select
committee?
Where would we be if the NYPD and FDNY behaved on 9/11 as you
do today?
This can change and it can happen overnight. The people in
this room can make that happen by making a choice. You can choose to elect
citizenship over partisan rancor and you can do it right night now. You can
decide that some things have to be handled without a political lens – things like
security and infrastructure. You can do things for the good of the country,
regardless of how it plays in your district, then you can explain that to you
constituents. You can be leaders. And you know what? You SHOULD do that,
because that’s what the voters sent you here to do.
One of these days, they’re going start measuring you against
THAT standard – what’s good for the country, not just what’s good for keeping
you in office. Will you be ready?