hrc

We’ve heard a lot of speeches.  But the best one I think ever, (and this would have to go up against either Obama’s racism speech in 2008 at Philadelphia, or Michelle’s recently), is the one I caught at one of Hillary’s  campaign stops on CSpan…

I haven’t found the link yet, (it’s a labyrinth to mine)  but in the middle of being deeply engrossed, I heard the car door slam outside and realized I had yet to fulfill a promised obligation, so I can only go on memory now. So true or not true, for better or worse, this is how I interpreted the way I heard Hillary tell it…

“Thank you, Thank you… etc… Support Democrats XXX, YYY,ZZZ etc…….

I have often thought of how I would want my future presidency defined. As one travels from town to town, state to state, one does see many differences in people and trends of thought depending where one goes.

I have often wondered what common denominator I could find that ties in all these perspectives which would tell each of you, wherever you are, who I am, how I think and feel, and give you some idea of what to expect as your future President…

In moments of reflection, I have asked myself sometimes why I am doing this. Why am I running for president, why am in a different place every day, meeting and greeting people, explaining myself, and spending time answering questions, often always the same no matter where I go…

In moments of quite reflection, after stripping away all those platitudes we cover ourselves with, all those exterior memes we try to portray to others… I came to the blunt realization that I’m doing it for tomorrow’s children…

As a mom.  As a grandmom.  I’m comfortable with that… and I hope you would be too..

As I look across my life, I realize that the things that have really excited me over my long years, are when I make a difference to children.  Whether it was making sure they could read no matter what their color, whether it was making sure they could be insured, no matter what income, the biggest satisfaction and the first thing I acknowledge myself for impacting positive change, has been to help children with what I’ve done.

Yes I’ve done many things for adults too… but we are talking in this candid moment, what I think makes up my core… And that is this.

My first priority instinctively lies with protecting America’s children.. With every future decision I make in a field of many gray areas, will hinge on how it will affect America’s children in their future.  Should we go to war?  Yes, if it is best for the future of America’s children. Should we raise taxes?  Yes, if it is best for America’s children.  Should we stem global warming?  Yes, if it is best for America’s children.

But it also means sending more resources to areas that protect, grow, and enhance our children. Perhaps diverting them away from areas that do not.  It means making sure schools are safe.  It means making sure neighborhoods are safe. It means giving our children their best shot to a great future.

And that is my center.  That is who I am.  If something is great for American banking but will have collateral damage among children, then I will veto it.  If being friends of a nation will give us profits to our companies and CEO’s, but continue the hurtfulness of children in child labor camps, I will not go there.  Children have, and always will be, my center.

 

Around that center, there molds another circle… A layer that must remain intact to preserve the inner center.  That layer is those children’s parents. After the children have been taken into account, I next look into making sure America’s parents can be the best they can be in order to prosper their children.  For when the parents prosper, so does the child.  I will look forward to raising wage rates either through the minimum wage acts, or making it easier for workers in all states to ask their boss for higher wages to make ends meet, and ultimately, make sure they can legally unionize to represent themselves.  This will be done because it is very necessary that a fraction of the great wealth of this nation, settles a little onto each child of our future… Which means simply that its parents have to earn more…  This is a non negotiable if we are going to help the child.  Likewise, parents need family time too, so we will look at less hours per workweek at the same salaries. We will work at paid family leave for all employees at the birth of a child, or the death of a parent.

Around this circle of parents, there is another circle, one which can be defined as those individual parent’s location or community. It is that locality in which they live, and work, and play. Any community that is being run down, is not good for a parent struggling to help its children.. Using any tools available, be they religious, governmental, non-profit, or volunteer, I hope to engage on all parties to turn around our communities that need it, and establish a renaissance of life that flows from within them throughout all those living within its confines… The establish of arts, music, and the humanities of life flowing throughout our once rundown communities, is a very positive sign that our communities are beginning to prosper, as opposed to just struggling to survive…

The next outer layer around this community circle, is that of our business interests.  A viable business environment is necessary for any community. The ebb and flow of money from project to project is just too big for government alone.  Private investors provide the bulk of our growth, and by using carrot and stick guidelines which we hope to put in our tax-codes,  we will make it more profitable for businesses to reinvest in their communities than invest on the other side of the globe.  We hope to bring back higher paying jobs by making it cheaper to have companies remain, here, than pay the price it will cost for them to go overseas…. New factories, new businesses, new research, new development, and new priorities on how we judge success in the corporate world, will go along way to support each community by the businesses from that area….

And the last, my last layer on which I will take into account when making my future decisions, will be our government.

We have tried making government irrelevant and that has led us to where we are today.. We had a financial crises that scared us all, which now we are just exiting the pull of gravity from its horizon… We have tried cutting funding and starving government as the beast and have found that things became worse, instead of better.  However though there is a reason of being for a strong government, that reason is not with interfering deeply in the lives of its citizens… No, the prime reason for a strong government is to enforce and make sure, no other entity, business or government, foreign of domestic, can interfere with the lives of its citizens.  Government’s sole purpose is to stand up for America’s businesses, as long as doing so does not hurt the communities… Then standing up for communities, as long as doing so does not hurt parents.  And then standing up for parents, as long is children are not harmed but helped in the process.  It all boils down to standing up for children, which I am proud to say I have always done, and promise you, it will be at my core, either blatant or hidden, as I perform my duties as your next President of the glorious, United States of America…

For the last 16 years our nation’s focus has unfortunately always been on what’s been best for business, our CEO’s, and investment…  As of the hour I am sworn in, I’m serving notice that from that point forward, it will be focused on what is best for our children…

Thank you…. etc, etc.  (applause, music, hand shaking and secret service, etc.. etc.. etc…)”

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I get wet eyes every time I go through this, even still..