Brilliant Politics

This excerpt is from a speech by John Edwards in Cedar Rapids, Iowa in June 2007. It was an inspiring and moving speech, and this short excerpt shows what a great speaker Edwards is on the stump. The theme is timely, given current battles with Bush over the Iraq War and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

-Doc

If you are a progressive Democrat, or Republican (there must be a few), you have got to love John Edwards for pushing the political dialogue to the left. He is playing a big role in shifting the center of the debate on health care in the Democratic presidential race, and thus in the country as a whole, into the progressive end of the spectrum.

Here’s what John Edwards said about President Bush’s cold, cold-hearted threat to veto the pending renewal of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP):

We’re going to have more tax cuts for the richest people in the country … but we’re going to take away health care for children? I mean, I just don’t think this is where America is. I’m not sure exactly what the president’s thinking.

I believe that President Grinch is thinking this, “Bah, humbug!”

-Doc

Editor’s note: You can also listen to this radio commentary, which was broadcast today, at the WBFO website. The transcript is below:

My daughter is 9 years old. Nine years from now she will be going off to college, a graduate of the high school class of 2016. It is likely that the next president of the United States will be coming to the close of his, or her, second term that same year. And so you see that the next president will be one of the most influential people in shaping my daughter’s future.

There is a saying that when you have children, your heart is walking around outside of your body. We all pray, and keep our fingers crossed, that the strongest influences on our children will be positive ones. I believe that the world could look very different in 2016 than it does today. Our next president will play a crucial role in determining whether the future of the entire planet will be dim or bright.

I want the next president to be firmly rooted in the reality-based community. You might remember that several years ago a highly placed Bush Administration official ridiculed “the reality-based community” as a useless group of lowly followers. We have learned since then that in the Wonderland that is the Bush Administration, every day is, as children say, “opposite day”. Deterioration is progress, defeat is victory, torture is justice, civil war is democracy. (more…)

Democrats have been less than skillful in the way they present their candidates to the public.

We thought that we’d give them some help by suggesting some core themes. More to come.

We are gradually finding our voices at BrilliantPolitics, and it sounds like this will be a two-part harmony. Political satire and serious political commentary will share center stage. We will be getting more serious after Labor Day, but also look for more Brilliant Videos, including the continuing series, “Republicans Anonymous.”

Let us know what you think: brilliant@brilliantpolitics.com

-Doc