Hillary is too nice. Not only do we have rules, they are Bernie's rules that now he wants changed.
“I think we ought to be more understanding and realistic on what it takes to get change in this big, complicated, pluralistic democracy of ours.” @HillaryClinton says she stands by her opinion in her @hulu documentary that Bernie Sander's campaign is "just bologna." pic.twitter.com/vJTCSBAUDt
She "would like to" apologize, but then she did not actually apologize. It is a shame, when you stand on the shoulders of giants, that you forget, even for a moment, how you got there. Hint: It was not thanks to Bernie.
Like a sleep-deprived European critic at the Cannes Film Festival, Rep. Rashida Tlaib let ‘er rip with a hearty “boo!” aimed at former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a rally for Senator Bernie Sanders in Clive, Iowa.
The congresswoman from Michigan appeared on a panel alongside Rep. Pramila Jayapal and her fellow so-called “squad” member Rep. Ilhan Omar during Sanders’s “Caucus Concert.” Discussion moderator Dionna Langford (an Iowa-based activist and youngest member of the Des Moines Public School board) brought up Secretary Clinton’s recent suggestion made in The Hollywood Reporter that “nobody likes Bernie Sanders.”
Before Langford was able to finish her point, a few people in the crowd jeered, prompting her to say “we’re not gonna’ boo, we’re classy.” Tlaib, chuckling, took that as her cue to gainsay Langford’s position.
“You all know, I can’t be quiet,” she said, as Jayapal and Omar doubled over in laughter. Read more and view video >>>>
Hillary is not running and has not endorsed anyone. This blog is not in election year mode at the moment. Tlaib and her squad sisters would do well to keep this etched in their memories going forward.
Bernie Sanders on Wednesday blamed Hillary Clinton for not doing more to stop the Russian attack on the last presidential election. Then his 2016 campaign manager, in an interview with POLITICO, said he’s seen no evidence to support special counsel Robert Mueller's assertion in an indictment last week that the Russian operation had backed Sanders' campaign.
The remarks showed Sanders, running for a third term and currently considered a front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, deeply defensive in response to questions posed to him about what was laid out in the indictment. He attempted to thread a response that blasts Donald Trump for refusing to acknowledge that Russians helped his campaign — but then holds himself harmless for a nearly identical denial. In doing so, Sanders and his former campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, presented a series of self-serving statements that were not accurate, and that track with efforts by Trump and his supporters to undermine the credibility of the Mueller probe.
I am not particularly worried about Bernie running in 2020. I asked this question and got this answer.
Q: How many public high schools are there in Vermont?
A: There are 149 high schools in Vermont, made up of 83 public schools and 66 private schools. Vermont ranks as the 50th state in terms of student enrollment and 48th in terms of total number of schools. It ranks 2nd for the student/teacher ratio and sits 8th for the percentage of students on free or reduced lunches.
This may not sound like a lot of high schools but bear in mind that the population of Vermont is 623,657 (2017) as opposed to 8,537,673 (2016) in New York City. That works out to 7.3% of the population of NYC.
Sometimes the oddest, most random stars align.
The Stoneman Douglas students and their allies among high school students nationwide will, I am confident, make sure the VT high school students know about Bernie's connections to and donations from the NRA as well as his voting record on gun control. They will make sure eligible students register and vote. I am pretty sure he is not long for the Senate in this respect much less the Oval Office.
Blame Hillary? Give me a break! Jeff Weaver? Give me another break!
The kids are alright and all right. They've got this now. It's not the revolution Bernie imagined. But it is a revolution. In fact, it is not even partisan! It is positional. Where do you stand on AR-15s? That is their question. Heads will roll in November. It is very premature to talk about 2020.
Over the weekend, the Unity Commission put forth primary revisions as outlined in the article below. As the article states, these changes remain subject to approval by the Rules and Bylaws Committee.
This represents nothing less than a hijacking of the Democratic Party by outsiders. It is unclear how many of the UC members were appointed by Bernie Sanders who remains an Independent, i.e. not a registered Democrat.
Open primaries and caucuses and registration dates close to or on primary dates leave our primary process open to tampering by outside forces. We know how that works. All they open is a can of worms.
WASHINGTON ― At its final meeting on Friday and Saturday, the Democratic National Committee’s Unity and Reform Commission agreed to a set of dramatic revisions aimed at restoring faith in the presidential nomination process and the management of the DNC.
The 21-member panel, which held its ultimate gathering in a conference room at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C., is recommending the effective abolition of some 60 percent of superdelegates to the presidential nominating convention. It has also presented a set of measures designed to increase accessibility to presidential primaries and caucuses, as well as reforms aimed at opening up DNC budgetary and administrative processes to greater scrutiny through, among other things, the creation of an Ombudsmen Council.
The reforms are not yet a done deal, however. The commission’s report now heads to the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which will have a 6-month period to amend party rules to enact the reforms, and could theoretically try to dilute the commission’s recommendations (though they would have to run any changes by the commission). The roster of over 400 voting DNC members will also get to vote on the proposals at the full DNC meeting in the fall of 2018.
But the commission’s most adamant reformers, most of whom were appointed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), characterized the outcome as a major win for the Democratic Party’s disillusioned progressive wing. The acceptance of Sanders surrogates was essential to the commission’s success, since evidence that the DNC had favored Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential primary and the anger it inspired among Sanders supporters fueled the creation of the commission. Read more >>>>
No, the party did not "favor" Hillary Clinton. Nonsense! Nearly 4 million registered Democrats voted for Hillary over Bernie Sanders.
Dear Democratic (and other) politicians and operatives, When you say the Party needs to open its doors to include working people, know you are being dismissive. Black folks work and we are IN the Party. Say who you mean.
Opening the primaries and caucuses is not going to sprinkle magic fairy dust over health care, minimum wage, taxes, or college tuition. Hillary won the nomination because of her experience in policy making and for the policies she proposed.
What these revisions will accomplish is to make the Democratic Party the "Drive-Thru" party that any minority movement can invade and sabotage.
We have no reason to expect the RBC to reject these proposals. As they proved on May 31, 2008, they are out of touch with the party's registered base.
Donna Brazile is an amazing woman and strong Democrat who has fought tirelessly to protect our voting rights, provided a voice for the voiceless and championed issues like increasing the min wage and equal pay for women. We stand with Donna, because Donna stands and has always stood with US! Looking forward to her continued service on the DNC as she consistently puts people first!
I received it in Mark Murphy's name. Mark is my friend. The message was that elements were trying to push Donna Brazile out of the Democratic Party. That didn't seem fair, so I signed.
Then came an email request from Donna to donate to the party. So I did. In support.
Today's breaking news, starting with an excerpt in Politico and followed by stories in several major publications including The Daily Beast, The New York Post, and Newsweek to name a few, that Donna Brazile has a book out in which she supposedly describes how Hillary Clinton "took over" the Democratic Party (CNN is using the verb "hijacked") came as a shock.
I will not link to any of the articles. What I can tell you is that DB is trending on Twitterand a good deal of of the comments are calling her out for her lies and her self-promotion. Here are a few examples, but you should go look for yourself. Some retweeting wouldn't hurt while you're there.
Contra Donna Brazile's assertion, Bernie Sanders DID sign a joint-fundraising agreement w DNC in 2015 (he just never utilized it) pic.twitter.com/aE6gaCfifO
On Facebook, all my PUMA friends suddenly came roaring through!
After Hillary accepted Secretary of State, I purged most of the PUMA posts here although I have occasionally referred to our angry coalition. I didn't want to affect opinions of Hillary's work.
But now the game has changed. We thought, in supporting DB these past few weeks, that we were supporting the traditional Dem Party. Now it appears that Donna has tossed her support toward Bernie, who remains an Independent, and his "revolution" that wants to drive the party far to the left.
It all smells like political treachery, self-promotion, and week-old jambalaya. We are not having it!
This article is not new. It dates back to the end of March. In light of this past weekend in Charlottesville, it merits another look. A pro-Bernie faction continues its attempts to muscle into leadership roles in the Democratic party while Sanders himself remains stubbornly an Independent (which is fine with us since we do not want him in the party). They disparage true Democrats like Hillary Clinton, Kamala Harris, and Jon Ossoff and parrot Bernie's inflammatory and untrue words, believe propaganda generated abroad, and threaten the very breadth of the party with extreme alt-left policy demands. (Bold emphasis below is mine.)
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders (I) on Friday defended voters of President Trump, saying that the election was Democrats' to lose and that the party needs to better represent the working-class voters who supported Trump and other GOP lawmakers
"Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree, because I've been there. Let me tell you something else some of you might not agree with, it wasn't that Donald Trump won the election, it was that the Democratic Party lost the election," Sanders said while speaking at an Our Revolution rally in Boston with fellow Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).
Sanders went on to say that a "fundamental restructuring of the Democratic party" was needed to win future elections and that problems with party's current setup is why many were quick to support Trump in the election, not because of some of the rhetoric on the campaign trail. Please do keep reading >>>>
On the trail, Hillary Clinton was fond of quoting Maya Angelou: "When someone tells you who they are, believe them." Then, she was applying that maxim to Trump.
In March, Bernie told us who he is. I missed this article the first time around, but we should look at it now and understand who Bernie is.
Over the past several days, Trump supporters have claimed on social media as well as IRL face to face with Trump protestors that they support Trump but are not racists or Nazis. The reply from the Resistance has been "Yes, you are."
In March, Bernie said: "Some people think that the people who voted for Trump are racists and sexists and homophobes and deplorable folks. I don't agree, because I've been there." Been where? He neglected to clarify that. We can agree that there are probably people who voted for Trump who are not among those supporting him at his recent rallies and who would not participate in Nazi/KKK marches, but by not condemning those folks, their support is implicit. Bernie prefers to cut them slack rather than hold their feet to the fire.
As you see, he then went on to blame us for losing an election that was phenomenally well-supported, well-run, and ran the best-prepared, most thoroughly experienced candidate any of us had ever seen in our lives. I take exception to Bernie's words! Not true!
A "perfect storm," as Hillary has termed it, of influences and actions robbed the party of a victory and the country of the president we deserved.
Discord is a loaded term with a negative valence. We feel uncomfortable when it intrudes upon what we consider the normal flow of life. On the other hand, we live in a democracy and are accustomed to dealing with the messiness of it - including the inevitable discord and necessary compromise.
Accord, on the other hand has a positive valence. By trying to cozy up to the "populist" Trump supporters, Bernie has told us who he is. His "accord" with the Trump folks, however, is less than comforting or comfortable. He has told us who he is. We should believe him. He and his ilk have no place in our diverse party. Period.
Here's Hillary. We are #StillWithHer.
Here is the text of her speech connecting Donald Trump to the alt-right.
I have never and will not tolerate those who, never having researched the true history of Eva Perón, slap back the comparisons with Hillary Clinton. I do not mean this in the popular context [Eva:bad = Hillary:bad.] I mean it in the context of both women fighting for the people. Those who have bought the US propaganda against Evita need to do a little reading to discover who she really was: her values, her aspirations, her achievements.
On that note, I celebrate the San Diego Rep revival of the Rice-Weber opus "Evita" which I classify as more than a musical since there are no spoken words. I consider it an opera. I have seen five productions - two on Broadway. At one time I knew every word of the libretto and also completely blew my voice singing it. I wish I could see this production. If you live in SoCal, you are very lucky!
The U.S. presidential race was still raging last year when San Diego Rep and its artistic director, Sam Woodhouse, chose a show that seemed ideal for the times: “Evita.”
After all, Woodhouse points out, “the quest of a powerful woman to make change in the country she loves is at the core of this piece,” and the parallels between Eva Perón and Hillary Clinton — two popular but polarizing figures who were first ladies — seemed too rich to pass up.
SNIP
... Eva Perón — known adoringly as “Evita” in Argentina — was a champion of the working class and social reform in ways that went far beyond mere pose or populist rhetoric.
Woodhouse cites a long list of social reforms that the Peróns rolled out between 1946 and Eva’s death from cancer in 1952: social security, a minimum wage, universal free education and health care, paid vacation for workers, maternity leave.
“Eva was the leader of the first feminist political party in South America,” he continues. “Women’s right to vote passed during their reign. You know how horrified segments of the American population get when the concept of universal health care is mentioned? (Well), it was instituted in Argentina in the ’40s.
“That's a short list, (but) it's an amazing list of social and political transformation. Regardless of what the military or the aristocrats said, that happened. Read more and get ticket information >>>>
I could not agree more with Sam Woodhouse's interpretation of Evita - the woman. She was a social reformer remembered lovingly and with reverence by those who benefited from her works but despised and disparaged by the oligarchs and all those who chose to stand by them.
I was a very little girl when Eva Perón died. I remember my mother and my aunts being devastated and weeping. In the black and white press and on TV her hair looked white. I thought she was old and could not understand why everyone thought she was so young, but I knew she was important. Much later I learned who she really was.
I grieved that we did not have our own Evita until Hillary came along. But then, there she was! Proposing similar policies. A First Lady fighting for health care, collaborating with Mother Teresa (who would/must have loved Evita). All the better that she was not older than I - she was my contemporary. I rejoiced!
History tends to run roughshod over women like Evita and Hillary. Even now, we see efforts to destroy Hillary's legacy in the same way Evita's has been altered.
I am not Sam Woodhouse. I think I might love his production. One change I would make: I would fashion the Che character after Bernie Sanders. The fit is perfect. The socialist v. the democratic/progressive Eva. I can hear the Bernie/Che character singling "Oh What a Circus" about Hillary. He is singing it now. He should be banned for life from the Democratic Party. But I would love to see a white-haired Bernie in rumpled fatigues following Evita around onstage. That, after all, is who he is, an aging wannabe Che.
I wish I could be in SD to see this. The tickets are reasonable. The production sounds so exciting with student participation. I think I would love it!
Break a leg, you guys! My heart is with you!
Recommended reading:
Fraser, Nicholas; Navarro, Marysa (1996). Evita: The Real Life of Eva Perón. W.W. Norton & Company.
Naipaul, V.S. (1980). The Return of Eva Perón. Alfred A. Knopf
Perón, Eva (1952). La Razón de mi vida. Buro Editors.
I have more titles but they are in the attic. I will supply them upon request.
Those watching "The Handmaid's Tale" on Hulu cannot be faulted for thinking they might be living a cyncial version of the old 1940s "Road"
pictures with Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, and Dorothy Lamour. (Who gave her
that name?!) A movie called "The Road to Gilead." Emily Peck has other
ideas, but there are portents that cannot be denied.
You’d
have to be fairly clueless about the current political moment not to
feel a shiver of recognition watching “The Handmaid’s Tale,” the new
dystopian drama on Hulu.
Based
on Margaret Atwood’s bestselling novel, the show debuted Wednesday
after weeks of politically fueled anticipation. The timing is apt. The
action takes place in Gilead, a fictional future America that has been
taken over by a fundamentalist group of men who systematically strip
away women’s rights.
That description might remind viewers of President Donald Trump’s first Monday
in office when, surrounded by other men, he signed off on the global
gag rule ― an anti-abortion order that restricts women’s reproductive
rights around the world. Or, perhaps it also brings to mind Vice
President Mike Pence, who chooses not to socialize alone with women who
are not his wife.
Even Trump fanatics saw the connection, calling the show anti-Trump propaganda.
Peck
is pretty optimistic positing that the road to Gilead is fraught with
lots of potholes and obstructions, but we do well not to focus too
narrowly on the falling rock on one side of the highway thereby missing the
sheer cliff on the other side.
I am not watching "The Handmaid's Tale,"
much as I would like to. I simply refuse to pay another dollar beyond
my already expensive FiOS service, so Hulu and Netflix are out for me. I
have, however, read the book. The coincidence of the airing of the
mini-series with the Democratic "Unity Tour" should set off some bells
and whistles.
This is the axiom Peck offers that Bernie supporters continue to reject.
They
rejected it during the 2016 primaries renouncing any and all
incremental policies proposed by Hillary Clinton's campaign and stubbornly continued their opposition during the general election. They
persist in their unwillingness to allow the Democratic Party to evolve
naturally and have set out to take it over and overturn the common sense
principles that have been its warp and woof since the groundbreaking
days of FDR. Rather than empowering women, the party is rolling back
its liberating positions on women under the influence of a man who
refuses to join the party. No, this is not a relitigation or extension
of the 2016 primaries. It is a fight for the future.
The
parallels between the dystopia Atwood projected and perceived potential
effects of the new administration are not limited to Trump's positions
and those of his cronies. The BernieBros continue to have a hand in
suppressing female issues, concerns, and voices within the only party
likely to continue to highlight them.
Women have a stake in resisting efforts on either side to curtail our rights and freedoms. Resisters
must do it for ourselves. But we must be careful not to lose the
party. That is where the strength is. The reason the BernieBots are
fighting to usurp that power is because they know that a third party
will have no muscle except to do what they have done in 2000 and 2016 -
split the progressive vote.
We must remember that there was a
reason why, at the end of her senior thesis, Hillary Clinton spurned
Saul Alinsky's methods (i.e. change from without the system rather than
within) as well as the job he offered her and opted for the discipline
of law school instead. We have to be in it to win it.
Leaving the
party is no solution. Think hard before you do that because it is not
only the Trump crowd that would happily see us in shades of red, blue,
green, and stripes according to their designations of how we serve. We
cannot determine our fate from the outside. The Bernie crowd knows
this, and that is why they fight to take over the party. Let's not just
abandon it to them.
At
an early-vote rally in North Carolina, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders,
and Pharrell Williams laid out the stakes in this election, and why she
is the best candidate to build an economy that works for everyone, not
just those at the top. Clinton said Trump as president would follow the
pattern of Trump as a candidate: he would pit people against each other,
put himself first and lash out at anyone who got under his very thin
skin.
Clinton addressed Trump’s decades-long treatment of people
of color, highlighting his call for the death penalty for the Central
Park Five, his continued denial of their innocence even after they were
exonerated and the two suits against his company by the U.S. Justice
Department because it discriminated against people of color. Clinton
also criticized Trump for his repeated statements casting
African-American life as one of crime, poverty and despair, saying he
“has no idea about the strength of the black church, the vibrancy of
black-owned businesses, the excellence of Historically Black Colleges
and Universities, the rise of a new generation of black activists for
social justice, and the success of black leaders in every field.”
Clinton asked how a person who has behaved as Trump has could be trusted
appointing our justices and controlling our Justice Department.
Clinton
offered her vision for an inclusive America that lifts up all
communities – an America where we address the systemic challenges our
country faces through criminal justice reform, commonsense gun safety
reform, job-creating investments in communities that have been left out
and left behind. Reminding supporters that the North Carolina margin of
victory for President Obama in 2008 averaged only two votes per
precinct, Clinton said that “President Obama’s entire legacy is on the
line” and urged everyone to talk with their friends and family and vote
for a better, stronger, fairer America.
Clinton said, “I’ve said
many times he has shown us who he is; now it is up to us to decide who
we are. And right now, people across our country are coming together to
do just that. They are rejecting the dark and divisive vision for one
that is more hopeful and inclusive. We know that America is bighearted,
not smallminded. We want to lift people up, not tear each other down.
And that’s why I do believe we are stronger together.”
Sanders
cited Clinton’s support for a higher minimum wage, affordable college
and more families being able to access healthcare, as the reason for his
enthusiastic support. Sanders also touted the New College Compact he
and Secretary Clinton developed together, which will allow families
making less than $125,000 to attend college tuition-free, as proof of
Secretary Clinton’s desire to break down all the barriers holding
families back. Sanders said, “It is totally insane and unfair and
counterproductive to the future of this country when we have hundreds of
thousands of bright young people who have done well in high school who
want to go to college but can’t get a higher education for one reason:
their families lack the income. God only knows how many scientists and
engineers and doctors and teachers we are not developing because of
that.” Clinton and Sanders’ remarks, as transcribed, are below: HILLARY CLINTON:
“Thank
you! Wow. Thank you all. Whoo! I got to say – thank you! Thank you. I
got to say, after hearing from these two extraordinary men – I feel all
fired up and ready to go for the next five days.
It is so great to
be back here with all of you, and there are a few people in the
audience that I just want to acknowledge because I’m delighted they’re
there. U.S. Congressman David Price, I saw right there. Thank you,
David. State Senator Dan Blue, Jr., I know – right there. Thank you,
Dan. And I’m not sure she’s still here, but Deborah Ross, who I hope is
your next senator. There she is. Because everything Pharrell and Bernie
just said is not only about the presidential election and what’s at
stake, it is about who’s going to represent you as your governor, as
your senator, as members of Congress and the legislature. And you have
some excellent candidates, and we are so hopeful that you will vote for
them and vote for what they represent.
I really want to thank my
friend, Bernie Sanders, for everything that he has done. I got to serve
with Bernie. We were colleagues in the Senate. I saw firsthand his
commitment to the people of Vermont and to the values that have guided
his life. And when we faced each other in the primary, here’s what I was
so proud about. We ran a campaign on the issues that matter to the
American people. And I think because of that campaign, we were able to
raise a lot of the issues that you heard Bernie talking about to the
level that they are part of this presidential campaign, and they will be
part of our agenda after January 20th, Bernie.
And I’ve got to
say, too, this election has been a lot more fun now that we’re on the
same side. And I want to thank Bernie for everything he’s done. He’s
crisscrossing our country, energizing people, getting folks off the
sidelines and engaged in politics. And there’s no question that his
efforts are paying off. And what he said at the beginning of his remarks
is absolutely true. My name may be on the ballot, but it is not about
me, it’s not about my opponent, it’s not about Bernie, it’s not about
David or Deborah. It is about you and your lives and what we’re going to
do together.
Now, Bernie and I have already worked – we’ve worked
on the plan that he told you about to make college tuition free for the
middle class, for working families, for poor kids, and debt-free for
everyone. Because, as Bernie said earlier this year, when people who
care about progressive causes stand together, we win. And then we can
get to work on making those causes into realities for the lives of our
people.
So I am proud to be here with you, and I am so excited
about the election, about everything that we’re going to do together.
And I’m especially pleased to have Pharrell here. Now, every time I see
him, which is not often enough, we always have a good conversation, like
we did before this event. He always gets you to think. Not only is he a
world-class talent, but he is a passionate advocate for issues that are
too often overlooked and ignored. He wants to – and I’m going to do
everything I can to help him – to deliver giving kids who are at risk
access to educational and arts programs that they deserve to have just
as much as any other child. So tell me this – tell me this, North
Carolina. Tell me, North Carolina: Are you really, really, really happy
that we’re here tonight? Well, we sure are. There’s nowhere we’d rather
be.
Now, let me ask you this: How many of you have already voted?
Well, I hope you’re going to bring more people to vote as well, right?
Are you ready to volunteer? We can all use you in these last days. Are
you ready to elect Roy Cooper? Well, I’m glad to hear that because it’s
time you had a governor who puts families first, not radical ideology.
And I love seeing our educators stand up and applaud. Because you need a
governor who actually cares about the education of the children of
North Carolina.
Now, are you ready to elect Deborah Ross to the
United States Senate? I’ll tell you. I’ll tell you, Deborah and her race
are the talk of everywhere. People know she will be an independent
voice for North Carolina families, that she will represent you with
integrity and excellence. And unlike her opponent, she’s never been
afraid to stand up to Donald Trump.
Are you ready now to choose
our next president and commander-in-chief? Well, I’m excited. Did any of
you see the debates? Well, there are several notable aspects of those
debates. I mean, one is the very fact that I stood on the stage for four
and a half hours with my opponent, proving once and for all I have the
stamina to be president and commander-in-chief. But he also kept saying,
like, ‘Oh, well, you know, what have you done for the last 30 years?’
And occasionally I would interject and say what I had done. And today in
Greenville, we had a perfect comparison. I started my career fighting
for children and families with the Children’s Defense Fund when I got
right out of law school in the 1970s. I went to South Carolina to gather
evidence to stop the government in South Carolina from putting young
men, teenagers, in jails with adults. I went to Alabama undercover to
gather information about segregated academies to deprive them of
tax-exempt status which they did not observe. I went door to door in New
Bedford, Massachusetts, gathering information to make the case that
every child in America, including children with disabilities, should
have the right to a public school education.
And as we heard this
morning from just a wonderful, distinguished older woman by the name of
Mae Wiggins, who came all the way down to tell her story – she was a
nurse in New York City back in the 1970s, excited about being a young
nurse, getting her career off to a start. And she was looking for a
place to live. And she had a budget, like everybody does. And she found
what she thought would be the perfect place. It was within her budget.
It was close to work. She went to apply for an apartment. It was a new
building, brand-new building. It wasn’t even totally finished yet. She
went into the little office and asked for an application, and they said,
‘Oh, we don’t have any apartments.’ She said, ‘But I saw the
advertisement.’ ‘Well, we have no apartments let.’ Well, she thought
that was pretty peculiar, and so she decided to do a little
investigation. And she found out that all of her African American
friends who’d gone to that apartment run by Donald Trump and his father,
Fred, had been told there were no apartments.
So she had the
gumption to go and make a complaint, which led to the Justice Department
suing them for discrimination. They settled the suit, but then they had
to come back a year later and sue them again because they were still
discriminating. So when you hear, as, Bernie so powerfully said at the
end of his remarks, that we are standing against the possibility of
returning and normalizing discrimination, take it seriously, my friends,
because it truly is – it truly is at stake in this election.
And I
was also very, very grateful I had a role in helping to create the
Children’s Health Insurance Program as First Lady. And let me tell you,
one of the great – one of the great honors as I travel across the
country is meeting young people who are the beneficiaries, or meeting
their families. I met a woman here in North Carolina who told her story,
and we actually recorded it because all of us were so moved by what she
had to say. When her baby was born, her daughter, she was deaf. And the
doctors all said, she’ll never communicate so she cannot learn to
speak, so you need to teach her sign language. And the mom did all this
research and concluded that there were some treatments that might help
her daughter, but she didn’t have that kind of money. They didn’t have
that kind of insurance.
And she was telling her doctor she didn’t
know what to do, and the doctor just serendipitously said, ‘You know,
there’s this new program. It’s called the Children’s Health Insurance
Program. It’s for people who are not poor but they don’t make enough
money to afford that kind of insurance and they don’t work for an
employer who provides it. You should look into it.’ And she did. And
that began the process of her getting the treatment that her daughter
needed. And when I met the mother, I also met the daughter, right here. I
talked with her. She told me how proud she was because she had just
graduated from college, George Washington University.
So yes, I do
sweat the details and I do have a lot of plans. Tim Kaine and I put a
whole book out called ‘Stronger Together’ telling you exactly what we’re
going to try to do if we’re fortunate enough to be President and Vice
President because I actually think it’s important for you to know what
we’re going to do together. And as a Senator, I helped to rebuild New
York City after 9/11 and provided health care to our brave first
responders. As your Secretary of State, I traveled to 112 countries,
negotiated cease fires, reduced the threat of nuclear weapons, stood up
for human rights and women’s rights and LGBT rights all around the
world.
And everything I’ve done started by listening to people,
listening to hear your stories, what you’re worried about, and then
working to bring people together, to find common ground, even with
people who disagreed with me on lots of issues. When I was First Lady, I
had a great commitment to kids in foster care. And I wanted to improve
our foster care and adoption laws. And I was looking for some Republican
to work with me, and I found one because I did my research and found
out that one of the most partisan Republicans, Congressman Tom DeLay
from Texas, had a heart for children in foster care. He and his wife had
fostered children. And I called him up. I said, ‘Congressman, would you
work with me to change the laws on foster care and adoption?’ There was
a silence. He said, ‘Well, what do you want me to do?’ I said, ‘Well,
come to the White House. Come to a meeting. We’ll sit down and figure
out what we can do.’ And we did. And I meet those kids, and I meet those
families, kids who were taken out of foster care and given the chance
to have a loving permanent family for the first time.
Now, I’m
telling you this because I really believe that’s the only way we’re
going to get things done. And if you elect me next Tuesday, that is the
kind of president I will be.
So let me just – let me just mention a
few of the ideas that we’ve been putting forward to help you and your
families get ahead and stay ahead because I truly believe you need a
candidate you can vote for, not just someone to vote against. But as
you’re making this choice, we need to be clear about what the choice is
because come January 20th, America will have a new President. It will
either be me or my opponent. Now, I think it’s fair to say things are
going to change. Change is part of life. That much is certain. The
question is, what kind of change are we going to see? Are we going to
build a stronger, fairer, better America, or are we going to fear each
other and fear our future?
I want you just to imagine. Imagine the
different kinds of futures that are available, depending upon who’s
elected on January 20th, because by imagining it, I want you to think
about every issue you care about, everything that is dear to you, every
word from Pharrell and from Bernie. It’s hard for me to imagine that we
would have a president who has demeaned women, mocked the disabled,
insulted African Americans and Latinos, pitted people against each other
instead of bringing them together. That is unfortunately, though, what
we have seen in this campaign. What we have seen, what’s been said […]
it’s been. I know there are a lot of people who are upset about what’s
gone on in this campaign, aren’t there?
People come and talk to
me. I’ve had people say that they can’t sleep, that their stomachs are
bothering them, they have headaches. And I think that’s an important
signal, because this is a big decision. And as Michelle Obama has said,
the presidency doesn’t change you – who you are, it reveals who you are.
And I think it’s fair to say that my opponent has already revealed who
he is. And he wants to ban every Muslim in the world from coming to the
United States. Our country is founded on religious freedom. It is one of
the most important building blocks of our democracy. He has said that
he thinks the lives of black people are all crime and poverty and
despair. He has no idea. No idea about the strength of the black church,
the vibrancy of black-owned businesses, the excellence of historically
black colleges and universities. He seems not to recognize the rise of a
new generation of black activists for social justice and the success of
black leaders in every field.
And we saw that again in the way he
treated the Central Park Five. These were five black and Latino kids,
some as young as 14, who were wrongly convicted of a terrible crime in
New York City back in 1990. Donald Trump took out full-page ads in four
newspapers calling for the death penalty for these kids. Nearly three
decades, they were exonerated by DNA evidence. And in addition, someone
else confessed to the crime so they were finally released from prison.
But not only did Trump refuse to apologize for what he had said about
them and even calling for their executions, he actually said they should
still be in prison. Evidence didn’t matter. The law didn’t matter. To
him, those kids would always be guilty. So think about it. If he wants
to keep exonerated people in jail, how can we trust him to fight for the
rule of justice and fairness and criminal justice reform in America? Do
we want him appointing our judges?” AUDIENCE: “No.” HILLARY CLINTON: “Do we want him controlling the Justice Department?” AUDIENCE: “No.” HILLARY CLINTON: “Well,
I’ve said many times he has shown us who he is; now it is up to us to
decide who we are. And right now, people across our country are coming
together to do just that. They are rejecting the dark and divisive
vision for one that is more hopeful and inclusive. We know that America
is bighearted, not smallminded. We want to lift people up, not tear each
other down. And that’s why I do believe we are stronger together.
So
let me paint you a different picture. Here’s what we’re going to do
together. We’re going to take on systemic racism with a full commitment
and real follow-through. Because we refuse to accept as normal some of
what we’re seeing across America. What happened to that church in
Mississippi yesterday should not have happened and it should never be
accepted. People painted the words, ‘Vote Trump’ on the side and then
set it on fire. Who would do that? Who would do that to a place of
worship where people seek solace? That can never be normal. It can never
be acceptable. What happened in Flint, Michigan, as Bernie said, can
never be normal, can never be acceptable. Little children drinking and
bathing in poisoned water that will affect their health for years to
come.
And then we know, don’t we, too many young African Americans
are dying in police incidents or because of gun violence. We know their
names: Trayvon Martin and Eric Garner and Sandra Bland and Keith Scott
and so many others. We have got to face this, and we’re going to get to
work to do just that. We are going to – We are going to dismantle the
so-called school-to-prison pipeline. And we’re going to replace it with a
cradle-to-college pipeline. And we’re going to start with our youngest
kids and their families to give them the support that they need. And
we’re going to take a hard look at what we need to do to make sure every
child has the chance to attend good schools with good teachers no
matter what their zip code is. And we will reform our criminal justice
system from end to end. It is wrong, my friends, that black men are far
more likely to be stopped by police, charged, and sentenced to longer
prison terms than white men for the same offenses.
When I launched
this campaign back in April of 2015, the very first speech I gave was
on the topic of criminal justice reform. I said then, and I have
repeated it throughout this campaign, we must end the era of mass
incarceration. Too many families have been broken up, too many
communities have been so badly affected. We have to reform these
mandatory minimums and sentencing. We have to ban the box so people who
have served their time can get a real chance at a good job and a fresh
start. And we have to restore trust between police and communities. We
are all safer when everyone has respect for the law and everyone is
respected by the law.
This is important, of course, to families
and communities but it is important to all of us. This is about who we
are as a country, about whether we really are a nation that believes in
freedom and justice for all. Too often, despite the progress we’ve made,
we fall short of that goal, and we have to be honest about it. I am
determined to make this one of the most important projects of my
presidency, and I hope all of you will join me in doing that.
And I
have to say, that is only part of what must be done, because the
leading cause of death for young African American men, more than the
next nine causes combined, is gun violence. We have 33,000 people a year
dying from guns. I just cannot tolerate this any longer. I have met the
families of those who’ve lost loved ones, who’ve lost the first-graders
in Sandy Hook, the bible study churchgoers in Charleston, the clubgoers
in Orlando, the moviegoers in Aurora, Colorado, people going about
their […] being cut down and cut senselessly short. We have to take
steps to reduce gun violence, and I know we can do that because – the
vast majority of Americans agree something must be done, and a very big
majority of gun owners agree as well.
And we’ve got to make
investments in those communities that are struggling, especially
communities of color. When I was in eastern North Carolina today and I
was talking to people there who had been devastated by Hurricane
Matthew, people who didn’t have very much to start with who lost
everything, farmers with 100-200 acres growing sweet potatoes, wiped
out. We’ve got to help everybody get ahead. I believe that the economy
must work for everyone, not just those at the top. And I think
hardworking Americans deserve a raise and women deserve equal pay.
So
how are we going to do this? Well, we’re going to go where the money
is. Just as Bernie said, we’re going to make the wealthy pay their fair
share and make sure Wall Street never threatens Main Street again. And I
can’t wait to work with Bernie to make public colleges and
universities, like NC State, right here in Raleigh, tuition-free. I know
that this is another issue Pharrell feels passionately about as well.
If you are struggling with student debt, we’re going to cut that and
help you pay it back and get out from under it. And in my plan is a $25
billion fund specifically aimed at supporting historically black
colleges and universities, schools like Shaw and St. Augustine, because
you know they produce some of the finest leaders in our country, and I
want to make sure they keep doing that vital work.
So we could go
on all night. I mean, Bernie and I could really keep you here until
breakfast [laughter] because we get excited about what we can do. But,
of course, we can’t do anything if you don’t get out and vote and get
everybody you know to vote. This is going to be one of the most
consequential elections in our country’s history. You know that because
we are at a crossroad. It’s not just who my opponent is. Pharrell is
right. We don’t even have to mention his name very much. Right? It’s not
just about him, although there are some special features that certainly
raise deep concerns. It’s about who we are. It’s about what we want,
what we are going to do to make our mark on our country at this time in
our history. I believe, I believe, America’s best days are still ahead
of us if we do what we are supposed to do. Every social movement, every
economic advance has only come about because people were willing to work
and sacrifice and keep pushing forward in the face of adversity.
It’s
not easy. It wasn’t easy to get the vote for women. It wasn’t easy to
have the final efforts made to ensure that the Civil Rights Act was
enforced. It wasn’t easy because there are powerful interests still
trying to push us back and push us down. You know because in this state,
a lot of effort was put into trying to suppress the vote. Right? And
some people got discouraged about that. I’ve met some people who say,
‘Well, I don’t even know what they want, what kind of identification. It
gets a little discouraging.’ You cannot get discouraged. Do not grow
weary while doing good. Right?
It is now our turn, our turn to
stand up to people like your governor and your legislature, who wanted
to shut you down and push you back because we are fundamentally a good
nation and we need to make sure we deliver on that promise. And in this
election, President Obama’s entire legacy is on the line, everything
that he has worked so hard to do against implacable opposition. As the
President said yesterday, everything we’ve done is dependent upon him
being able to pass the baton to somebody who believes in the same things
he believes in.
So I’ve got to tell you I told the President I am
ready to take the baton, but he’s going to have to bend over because
he’s a lot taller than I am. But I’m not just taking it. All of us are
taking it. We are ready to grab that baton to defend and build upon the
progress of his presidency. And that is why everyone must vote. Early
vote. And vote on Tuesday if you can’t get to early vote. More than 31
million Americans have already voted. And listen to this, more than two
million right here in North Carolina have already voted. So, make no
mistake about it, you can make the difference, not only in who you elect
but in the agenda that those people will then get to work on. I want
you to hold me accountable. I want you to be my partners.
But I
can’t do any of this – when I was with our wonderful First Lady last
week, she reminded – she reminded the big crowd we had in Winston-Salem
that President Obama in 2008 won this state by about 14,000 votes. If
you break that down, do you know what the difference between winning and
losing is? Roughly two votes per precinct. So don’t let anybody tell
you their vote doesn’t matter. You’ve got to get everyone you know to
come out and vote. You can vote early through this Saturday, November
5th. If you don’t know where to vote, go to iwillvote.com to
confirm your voting location because the best way to repudiate the
bigotry and the bluster and the bullying and the hateful rhetoric and
discrimination is to show up with the biggest turnout in American
history. And then that will be the story of this election.
Let’s
make that one for the history books. Please be part of what we’re doing
in these next days. And let’s make sure that we not only have a future
we can believe in but one we can help create together and demonstrate,
once and for all, that love trumps hate. Thank you all!” BERNIE SANDERS:
“Thank
you. Thank you very much. And Pharrell, thank you very much. Pharrell
began his remarks by making a very important point. He said he’s not a
politician; he’s a musician, but he understands that in this moment in
American history, it is imperative that all of us be politicians, all of
us be involved […]. Thank you, Pharrell.
Now, let me begin [a] by
thanking all of you for coming out. What a fantastic turnout tonight.
Thank you so much. And [b] I want to begin with a startling revelation.
Are you ready for a startling revelation?” AUDIENCE: “Yes.” BERNIE SANDERS: “All
right, I knew you would be. And here is the revelation. Despite what
media may tell you, this campaign is not about Hillary Clinton, it is
not about Donald Trump, it is not about Bill Clinton, it is not about
Melania Trump, it is not about their children. This campaign is about
you and millions of other Americans. And this campaign is not a
personality contest. We’re not voting for high school president. We’re
voting for the most powerful leader in the entire world. And what this
campaign must be about is which candidate has the experience and the
vision to work for the middle class and the working class and the
families of our country. And in my view, without a shadow of doubt, that
candidate is Hillary Clinton, our next president.
Now, let me
also do something after giving you the startling revelation. Let me give
you something else also very radical, and that is I think a campaign
should be based on issues. Now, I know that’s, again, a very radical
idea. Imagine talking about the real issues impacting the American
people. What a crazy idea that is. But just for the heck of it, let’s do
it. Why not? What do we got to lose?
When I think about the most
important issue, and I speak for myself now, I worry very, very much
that this country is sliding into an oligarchic form of society where a
handful of billionaires control our economic and political life. As we
speak – as we speak, this very moment – billionaires around the country
are pouring tens and tens of millions of dollars into senatorial
campaigns, House campaigns, and campaigns of all kids. What we are
saying tonight is we will not allow billionaires to buy the United
States Government. And one of the major differences of many between
Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump is that Secretary Clinton has made it
clear that she will do everything she can in every way to overturn this
disastrous Supreme Court decision on Citizens United. Too many brave
people here in North Carolina and Vermont and all over this country have
put their lives on the line to defend American democracy. We’re going
to fight for that democracy. We are not going to become an oligarchy.
And
there’s another issue. When we talk about democracy, which, after all,
is what this country is about, we have cowardly Republican governors all
over this country trying to suppress […]. Hillary Clinton and I believe
that our job is to get more people to participate in the political
process, not fewer people. And I say, look, in a democracy, honest
people can have different points of view. Secretary Clinton has
conservative friends, I have conservative friends. That’s democracy. But
what is not democracy is when cowardly governors go out of their way to
make it difficult for people to vote. And I say to those governors: If
you don’t have the guts to participate in a free, open, and fair
election, get out politics and get another job.
Thank you. So
issue number one, Secretary Clinton, Pharrell, and I and all of you
understand that we need a vibrant democracy where people participate,
where people vote.
Second point. Now, I try not to be too hard on
my Republican colleagues because many of them suffer from a serious
illness called amnesia. And unlike Mr. Trump, we do not make fun of
people with disabilities. And what their illness is about is they seem
to have forgotten where this country was eight years ago tonight.
Somehow it just skipped their minds; I don’t know. They forgot that
eight years ago tonight we were losing 800,000 jobs a month, a horrific
number, unprecedented since the Great Depression. They forgot – and
they’re very concerned about deficits, which is an important issue. They
forgot that under Bush’s last year we were running up the largest
deficit in the history of this country, $1.4 trillion, just forgot about
it. And they forgot, by the way, just to mention, that the world’s
financial system was on the verge of collapse.
We have come a long
way in eight years in improving the economy. Thank you, President
Obama. But let us also acknowledge – let us also acknowledge – that
while unemployment has gone way lower today than it was when President
Obama came to office, we have also got to acknowledge that the economy
is nowhere where we want it to be, and that millions of our brothers and
sisters in this country are hurting financially. That is a fact.
And
let us acknowledge and not be afraid to put it out on the table and to
say that over the last 40 years, what we have seen is a middle class in
this country which is shrinking, where people in North Carolina and
Vermont and all over this country are today working not one job but two
or three jobs to cobble together the income and the healthcare that they
need. Let us be honest and acknowledge there are millions of working
families desperately looking for decent-quality affordable childcare.
Let us be honest and acknowledge that millions of older workers are
moving into retirement, but they have absolutely no savings and they are
very worried about their future. That is the reality, and we can’t hide
it.
So it is important for us to take a hard look at which
candidate is going to address those issues, which candidate understands
that the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in America
today is unacceptable and which candidate has the courage to stand with
working families and tell the billionaire class they cannot have it all,
this country, our government belong to all of us.
In North
Carolina and all over this country, we have people working longer hours
for lower wages. Everybody here knows that nobody can make it on $7.25
an hour federal minimum wage. [Cheers and applause.] And let us be very
clear. A seven and a quarter federal minimum wage is a starvation wage.
Let’s be clear. You can’t make it on 7 and a quarter, and you can’t make
it on 10 bucks an hour. There is one candidate running for president
who has pledged to raise the minimum wage to a living wage. And that is
Hillary Clinton. [Chants of “Hillary.”] In America, we have got to think
big, not small. And one of those ways that we have got to think and
understand, nobody in America who works 40 hours a week should be living
in poverty. We are going to raise that minimum wage to a living wage.
There’s
another issue. I’m almost embarrassed to mention it. And that is in the
year 2016, women are still making 79 cents on the dollar compared to
men. And I know, I know that every man here will stand with Secretary
Clinton and me and all of the people of this country in demanding pay
equity for women, equal pay for equal work.
When we think big and
not small, we take a hard look. We say, ‘Well, what’s going on around
the rest of the world?’ And then we learn something. We learn that all
over the world, working people are guaranteed paid family and medical
leave. Every major country and, in fact, most poor countries guarantee
paid family and medical leave, but right now, right here in North
Carolina today, some working-class woman has given birth to a beautiful
baby. But she is going to have to go back to work. She is going to have
to separate herself from that beautiful baby in a week or two because
she doesn’t have the money to stay home with that baby. That’s wrong.
And that is why Secretary Clinton and I will fight to guarantee 12 weeks
paid family and medical leave.
Donald Trump has a brilliant idea.
And, as you know, Donald’s ideas are always brilliant because he is a
self-defined genius, so by definition. And in the midst of the
healthcare problems that we have as a nation, Mr. Trump’s brilliant idea
is to throw 20 million Americans off of health insurance. Now, in
fairness to Mr. Trump, we have to say that he really did not originate
this idea. Most of his Republican colleagues feel the same way.
And
I am a member of the Budget Committee. And when the Budget Committee,
dominated by Republicans, passed language to that effect, I asked the
chairman. I said, ‘Mr. Chairman, if you throw 20 million Americans off
of health insurance, how many of them are going to die? How many of them
are going to become much sicker than they should have become?’ The
Republicans did not have an answer, not something they are worried
about.
Well, Secretary Clinton is worried about it, and I am
worried about it. We don’t think it is a good idea to throw 20 million
Americans off of health insurance. We think we should be moving this
country to guarantee healthcare to all people as a right. And when we
talk about healthcare, you go up to the average American today, and you
say, ‘Well, what is the issue about healthcare that bothers you the
most?’ More often than not, what they will tell you is they are sick and
tired of paying the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.
They are tired of seeing the cost of prescription drugs soar at a time
when last year, the 5 major drug companies made $50 billion in profit.
And the top 10 pharmaceutical executives made over $300 million in
compensation. We are saying to the drug companies tonight, ‘Stop ripping
off the American people.’ ‘And if you do not do it on your own, we are
going to do it for you. Prices are going down.’
Secretary Clinton
understands, as I think we all do, that, while the economy is better
today than it was eight years ago, there’s a lot more that has to be
done. And that is why we understand that we can create millions of
good-paying jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure: our roads, our
bridges, our water systems.
Secretary Clinton and I have both
been to Flint, Michigan. And we have talked to parents whose children
have been poisoned by lead in the water, but it’s not just Flint,
Michigan. It is communities all over this country. This is America. We
should have cutting-edge infrastructure. We can create millions of jobs
rebuilding that infrastructure. Let’s do it.
At the end of the
primary process, Secretary Clinton and I chatted for a while to see in
what ways we could work together most effectively. And one area that we
both feel very strongly about is that in a highly competitive global
economy, this nation must have the best-educated workforce in the world.
It is totally insane and unfair and counterproductive to the future of
this country when we have hundreds of thousands of bright young people
who have done well in high school who want to go to college but can’t
get a higher education for one reason: their families lack the income.
God only knows how many scientists and engineers and doctors and
teachers we are not developing because of that.
So Secretary
Clinton and I came up with a pretty simple proposal. And it says that we
are going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free for
every family under $125,000. Now, that is, in fact, a pretty
revolutionary idea, and I’ll tell you why. Number one, obviously, it’s
easier for people who are in college or will soon be in college, but it
does something else even more profound.
I grew up in a family
where my dad dropped out of high school at the age of 16 and my mother
never went to college. And there are millions of families like that in
this country where kids grow up not knowing anybody who ever went to
college, who believe that there is no way in the world because they’re
poor, working class. They’re never going to make it to college. But when
the word goes out that if those children do their schoolwork seriously
and pay attention, regardless of their income, yes, they are going to be
able to go to college, that’s revolutionary.
How many people here
tonight are dealing with student debt? Raise your hands. Well, welcome
to the club. You are part of many, many millions of Americans who leave
school and gotta figure out how they’re going to pay 30-, 50-, $100,000
in debt. I talked to a young woman in Iowa last year. She went to dental
school. And we desperately need dentists because we have a crisis in
affordable dental care. And she graduated dental school $400,000 in
debt. Now, that’s insane. It is insane and unfair to ask people who did
the right thing – they went out and they got the education they were
supposed to – and then they are saddled with student debt, sometimes for
decades.
Secretary Clinton and I think that that situation has
got to change. Now, right now, right now my guess is that here in
Raleigh you can go out and buy a new car and pay an interest on that
loan for that car of 1 percent, 2 percent. Am I right?” AUDIENCE: “Yes.” BERNIE SANDERS: “You can refinance your home at 3 or 4 percent.” AUDIENCE: “Yes.” BERNIE SANDERS: “Then
why in God’s name are millions of people paying 6, 8, 10 percent
interest rates on their student debt? So what we believe is that if you
have student debt, you should be able to refinance that debt at the
lowest interest rates you can find.
Now, there are many, many
differences between Secretary Clinton and Mr. Trump. But there is one
that is very, very profound. Are you ready for a very radical thought
right now? I don’t want anyone to faint. I think we have some paramedics
here. But I do want to make this announcement. Are you ready for it?
[Cries of “Yes!”] All right. And Madam Secretary, you correct me if I’m
wrong here. I don’t want to misspeak for you. Secretary Clinton believes
in science. And I know – I know I put her in a difficult position. In
2016, to believe in science, a little bit dangerous. But what the heck.
Now,
I’m a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment, and I
have talked to scientists – I have talked to scientists all over this
country and all over the world. And let me be very clear. The debate is
over. Climate change is real. Climate change is caused by human
activity. And climate change is already today causing devastating
problems in this country and around the world. Secretary Clinton has
some very specific ideas about how we transform our energy system, how
we invest in energy efficiency and sustainable energy, and that is
exactly what we have to do.
Now, Donald Trump has a different
idea. After years and years of studying the issue from a scientific
perspective – I’m joking, I’m joking – he has concluded that climate
change is a hoax emanating from China. Now, why he chose China and
Mexico or some Muslim country, I don’t know. But that’s the way it is.
Now, we can laugh at this, but in truth, this is not a funny issue. I’ve
got seven grandchildren. Secretary Clinton has grandchildren. Our jobs
as custodians of this planet is to make sure that we leave our kids and
grandchildren a planet that is healthy and habitable. And that means
that we have to have the guts to take on the fossil fuel industry and
tell them their short-term profits are not more important than the
future of our planet.
Secretary Clinton understands that we have a
broken criminal justice system that needs major reform. It is not
acceptable to her, to me, and to, I suspect, anyone here that we as a
nation have more people in jail than any other country on Earth. And
Secretary Clinton understands, as I think most of us do, that it makes a
heck of a lot more sense to invest in jobs and education for our young
people rather than jails and incarceration.
And Secretary Clinton
also understands that with 11 million people in this country who are
undocumented today, the vast majority working hard to take care of their
families, we need comprehensive immigration reform and a path towards
citizenship.
Let me conclude by saying this. All of you know that
our country, from its earliest days, has struggled with issues of racism
and sexism and discrimination. And we should be very proud that we have
come a long, long way in overcoming a lot of those issues. If we were
here, I tell you, 15 years ago and somebody said, you know, I think
we’re going to have an African American as President in the year 2008,
very few people would have believed that. If somebody here said 10 years
ago that gay marriage would be legal in 50 states in 2015, and let us
not forget that as I stand next to our next President, 100 years ago –
not a long time from a historical perspective – women were not running
for President; they didn’t have the right to vote. They couldn’t get an
education, couldn’t get the jobs they wanted. We have come a long way. I
disagree with Donald Trump on virtually all of his policy positions.
But what upsets me the most, what upsets me – it’s beyond disagreement –
is we have struggled for so many to overcome discrimination, and he is
running his campaign, the cornerstone of which is bigotry. Now, as
Americans, we can disagree on many issues. But we have come too far. Too
many people have gone to jail and too many have died in the struggle
for equal rights. We are not going back to a bigoted society.
And
furthermore, what we understand – you know, my dad came from Poland. And
if we went around this room, you’ll find people from 100 more
countries, all over the world. What we understand is our strength, our
uniqueness, is our diversity. We should be proud of it. We should be
proud of it, and we are not going to allow Trump or anyone else to
divide us up. We’ve got a lot of work to do as Americans. In the next
five days, we’ve got to do everything that we can to elect Secretary
Clinton. And on the day after the election, we’re going to go back to
work to make this country what we know it can become. Thank you all.
And now it is my very great honor and privilege to introduce you to the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton.”
Let's build a BIG BLUE WALL and Make Donald Trump pay for his lies, shady cronyism, and innuendo!
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