More, Please.
Wouldn't mind hearing more of this at home from our Commander-in-Chief, but I'm glad he said it to the world:
But as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by their examples [of Ghandi and MLK] alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: evil does exist in the world. A non-violent movement could not have halted Hitler's armies. Negotiations cannot convince al Qaeda's leaders to lay down their arms. To say that force is sometimes necessary is not a call to cynicism - it is a recognition of history; the imperfections of man and the limits of reason.
I raise this point because in many countries there is a deep ambivalence about military action today, no matter the cause. At times, this is joined by a reflexive suspicion of America, the world's sole military superpower.
Yet the world must remember that it was not simply international institutions - not just treaties and declarations - that brought stability to a post-World War II world. Whatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: the United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms. The service and sacrifice of our men and women in uniform has promoted peace and prosperity from Germany to Korea, and enabled democracy to take hold in places like the Balkans. We have borne this burden not because we seek to impose our will. We have done so out of enlightened self-interest - because we seek a better future for our children and grandchildren, and we believe that their lives will be better if other peoples' children and grandchildren can live in freedom and prosperity.
The full text of his acceptance speech is pretty good. I wish he'd speak to America like one who his speaking for all America more often.

4 comments:
Agreed. Did he get a new speech writer just for this award?
Hopefully there is a lot more where that came from. Well said.
this may very well be a first for TTKS.
AGreed, good speech, timely etc.. and it helped overshadow trhe fact that, uh, who the hell nominated him and then why did they choose him for this award????
Word is, he came up with most of it himself though I'm sure his team helped polish it. I think he's actually most comfortable in this role--making quasi-academic and historical arguments for stuff.
There were quite a few points of the speech that I took issue with, but I appreciated the general tone, the acknowledgment that evil does in fact exist, and that the US can and will use force when it is morally appropriate.
By the way, if SB, Bitner, and I agree, then Adam's head likely just exploded.
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