The Battle for the Soul of America

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October 14, 2020

I did  a good search (it is very tough topic to get the best)

I hope I am successful

Some thing I want to know for my self and share it with  my awesome FRIENDS who are so many :):)

Instead, Biden delivered what was perhaps the best speech in his life, and one of the most inspiring and broadly embracing presidential addresses in the nation’s history.

“This is a life-changing election that is going to determine what America is going to look like for a long time.”

“If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not of the darkness.”

“United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.”

“This campaign isn’t just about winning votes. It’s about winning the heart, and yes, the soul of America.”

“History has delivered us one of the most difficult moments America has ever faced. Four historic crises. All at the same time. A perfect storm.”

“America is at an inflection point. A time of real peril, but extraordinary possibilities. We can choose the path of becoming angrier, less hopeful, and more divided. . . Or we can choose a different path, and together, take this chance to heal, to be reborn, to unite.”

“Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy. That’s all on the ballot.”

“I see a different America. One that is generous and strong. Selfless and humble. It’s an America we can rebuild together.”

“We don’t need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work. I’m not looking to punish anyone. Far from it. But it’s long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share.”

“However it came to be, America is ready to, in John Lewis’ words, lay down “the heavy burdens of hate at last” and to do the hard work of rooting out our systemic racism.”

“America’s history tells us that it has been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress. That we’ve found the light. And in this dark moment, I believe we are poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more.”

Commentators from a wide range of political perspectives were enthusiastic in their praise. It was a speech that “met the moment” (MSNBC). Even some of the Fox News pundits temporarily applauded it.

The Washington Post gave the following assessment:

“The former vice president delivered a sober, direct, large-hearted and aspirational speech in which nearly every word was an implied rebuke to President Trump’s paranoid style of politics. In 25 well-crafted minutes, Biden managed to capture the romance of decency.”

For those of you who may have missed it, it’s worth going back and hearing former Vice President Biden’s acceptance speech in its entirety.

The themes of Biden’s address and of the convention as a whole represented a full-throated affirmation of the warm-hearted, generous, positive, embracing, future looking values that are the bright, shining side of America’s national character. A categorical rejection of the dark, selfish, acquisitive and calloused side of our collective identity that has been so prevalent in recent times. The ‘City on a Hill’ community-affirming myth of America rather than the hyper-individualistic ‘El Dorado’ myth that has brought us so much grief.

It was a convention of ideas, ideals and values, not a wonky policy convention, though there were plenty of themes that came up which have prodigious policy implications. Some will criticize the convention for this reason (just as the 2016 convention was criticized for having gone the opposite way and being strong on programs but weak on inspiration.)

I think it’s what all of us who have been so discouraged by the trajectory of the country since the 2016 election needed to hear. It’s a vision of the future, of ‘Building Back Better’ after the perfect storm created or exacerbated by the Trump presidency has been competently dealt with.

 

 

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