On Wednesday, the Phoenix Mars probe successfully delivered a scoop of icy martian soil to its chemistry lab. Previous attempts had failed because the soil proved stickier than expected. Although all indications were that the white stuff Phoenix uncovered was water ice, Phoenix's lab results now confirm it. William Boynton, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer said, "We have water".
Thursday, July 31, 2008
"We have water"
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Obama's Speech on Patriotism
Senator Obama gave a speech on patriotism in Independence, MO on 2 July. He touches on the current election in a few places, but the speech is mostly about defining patriotism in general using historical references. It is well worth the half hour. Here is a transcript (from the NY Times)
Transcript:
You know, on a spring morning in April of 1775, a simple band of colonists -- farmers, and merchants, and blacksmiths, and printers, men and boys -- they left their home and their families in Lexington and Concord to take up arms against the tyranny of an empire.
And the odds against them were long, and the risks were enormous, for even if they survived that particular battle, any ultimate failure would bring charges of treason and death by hanging. And yet they took that chance.
They did so not on behalf of a particular tribe or lineage, but on behalf of a larger idea: the idea of liberty, the idea of God- given, inalienable rights.
And when the first shot of that fateful day, a shot heard 'round the world, was fired, the American Revolution and America's experiment with democracy began.
Those men of Lexington and Concord were among our first patriots. And at the beginning of a week when we celebrate the birth of our nation, I think it's fitting to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of patriotism, theirs and ours.
We do so in part because we're in the midst of war. More than 1.5 million of our finest young men and women have now fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 60,000 have been wounded. Over 4,600 have been laid to rest. The costs of war have been great, and the debate surrounding our mission in Iraq has been fierce.
It's natural in light of such sacrifice by so many to think more deeply about the commitments that bind us together as a nation and that bind us to each other, as well.
We reflect on these questions also because we are in the midst of a presidential election, perhaps the most consequential in generations, a contest that will determine the course of this nation for years, perhaps decades, to come.
Not only is it a debate about big issues -- health care, jobs, energy, education, retirement security -- but it's also a debate about values.
How do we keep ourselves safe and secure while preserving our liberties? How do we restore trust in a government that seems increasingly removed from its people and dominated by special interests?
How do we ensure that, in an increasingly global economy, the winners maintain allegiance to the less fortunate? And how do we resolve our differences at a time of increasing diversity?
Finally, it's worth considering the meaning of patriotism, because the question of who is or is not a patriot all too often poisons our political debates in ways that divide us rather than bring us together.
I've come to know this from my own experience on the campaign trail. Throughout my life, I've always taken my deep and abiding love for this country as a given. It was how I was raised; it is what propelled me into public service; it is why I am running for president.
And yet, at certain times over the last 16 months, I've found for the first time my patriotism challenged, at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears and doubts about who I am and what I stand for.
So let me say this at the outset of my remarks: I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine.
(APPLAUSE)
My concerns here aren't simply personal, however. After all, throughout our history, men and women of far greater significance and stature than me have had their patriotism questioned in the midst of momentous debates.
Thomas Jefferson was accused by the Federalists of selling out to the French; the Anti-Federalists were just as convinced that John Adams was in cahoots with the British, intent on restoring monarchal rule.
Likewise, even our wisest presidents have sought sometimes to justify questionable practices on the basis of patriotism: Adams' Alien and Sedition Act, Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, Roosevelt's internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
All were defended at the time as expressions of patriotism, and those who disagreed with their policies were sometimes labeled as unpatriotic. In other words, the use of patriotism as a political sword or a political shield is as old as the republic.
Still, what's striking about today's patriotism debate is the degree to which it remains rooted in the culture wars of the 1960s, in the arguments that go back 40 years or more.
Some of you remember this. In the early years of the civil rights movement and the opposition to the Vietnam War, defenders of the status quo often accused anybody who questioned the wisdom of government policies of being unpatriotic.
Meanwhile, some of those in the so-called counter-culture of the '60s reacted not merely by criticizing particular government policies, but by attacking the symbols, and in extreme cases the very idea of America itself, by burning flags; by blaming America for all that was wrong with the world; and, perhaps most tragically, by failing to honor those veterans coming home from Vietnam, something that remains a national shame to this day.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, most Americans never bought into these simplistic worldviews, these caricatures of left and of right. Most Americans understood that dissent does not make one unpatriotic...
(APPLAUSE)
... and most Americans understand that there's nothing smart or sophisticated about a cynical disregard for America's traditions and institutions.
(APPLAUSE)
And yet the anger and turmoil of that period never entirely drained away. All too often, our politics still seems trapped in these old, threadbare arguments, a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal.
Given the enormous challenges that lie before us, we can no longer afford these sorts of divisions. None of us expect that arguments about patriotism will, or should, vanish entirely. After all, when we argue about patriotism, we're arguing about who we are as a country and, more importantly, who we should be.
But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism.
(APPLAUSE)
And surely we can arrive at a definition of patriotism that, however rough and imperfect, captures the best of America's common spirit.
What would such a definition look like? For me, as for most Americans, patriotism starts as a gut instinct, a loyalty and love for country that's rooted in some of my earliest memories.
And I'm not just talking about the recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, or the Thanksgiving pageants at school, or the same fireworks on the Fourth of July that we just heard from earlier from Vince. Rather, as wonderful as these things may be, I'm referring to the way the American ideal wove its way throughout the lessons of my family, the lessons that my family taught me as a child.
You know, one of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandfather's shoulders and watching the astronauts come to shore in Hawaii. I remember the cheers and the small flags that people waved, and my grandfather explaining how we Americans could do anything we set our minds to do. That's my idea of America.
(APPLAUSE)
I remember listening to my grandmother telling stories about her work on a bomber assembly line during World War II. I remember my grandfather handing me his dog tags from his time in Patton's army and understanding that his defense of this country marked one of his greatest sources of pride. That's my idea of America.
I remember...
(APPLAUSE)
I remember, when living for four years in Indonesia as a child, I listened to my mother reading me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
I remember her explaining how this declaration applied to every American, black and white and brown alike, how those words and the words of the United States Constitution protected us from the injustices that we witnessed other people suffering during those years abroad. That's my idea of America.
(APPLAUSE)
As I got older, that gut instinct that so many of us have, that America is the greatest country on Earth, would survive...
(APPLAUSE)
That gut instinct, that knowledge would survive my growing awareness of our nation's imperfections: its ongoing racial strife; the perversions of our political system that were laid bare during the Watergate hearings; the wrenching poverty of the Mississippi Delta and the hills of Appalachia, and inner cities and rural communities all across America.
That instinct that this is the greatest country on Earth survived not only because, in my mind, the joys of American life and culture -- its vitality, its variety, its freedom -- always outweighed its imperfections, but because I learned that what makes America great has never been its perfection, but the belief that it can be made better.
I came to understand that our revolution was waged for the sake of that belief: that we could be governed by laws, not men; that we could be equal in the eyes of those laws; that we could be free to say what we want, and assemble with whomever we want, and worship as we please; that we could have the right to pursue our individual dreams, but the obligation to help our fellow citizens pursue theirs.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, for a young man like me of mixed race, without firm anchor in any particular community, without even a father's steadying hand, it is this essential American idea -- that we are not constrained by the accident of birth, but can make of our lives what we will -- that has defined my life, just as it has defined the life of so many other Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
And that's why, for me, patriotism is always more than just loyalty to a place on a map or a certain kind of people. Instead, it's also loyalty to America's ideals, ideals for which anyone can sacrifice, or defend, or give their last full measure of devotion.
I believe it is this loyalty that allows a country teeming with different races and ethnicities, religions and customs, to come together as one. It is the application of these ideals that separates us from Zimbabwe, where the opposition party and their supporters have been silently hunted, tortured or killed.
It separates us from Burma, where tens of thousands continue to struggle for basic food and shelter in the wake of a monstrous storm because a military junta fears opening up the country to outsiders.
Or Iraq, where, despite the heroic efforts of our military, men and women like this, and the courage of many ordinary Iraqis, even limited cooperation between various factions remains far too elusive.
I believe those who attack America's flaws without acknowledging the singular greatness of our ideals, and their proven capacity to inspire a better world, do not truly understand America.
(APPLAUSE)
Of course, precisely because America isn't perfect, precisely because our ideals constantly demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader, or government, or policy.
(APPLAUSE)
As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."
(LAUGHTER)
That's what patriotism is.
(APPLAUSE)
That's what patriotism is.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, we may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, stand up for what's right, and there are many times in our history when that's occurred. But when our laws, when our leaders or our government are out of alignment with those ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expressions of patriotism.
(APPLAUSE)
The young preacher from Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who led a movement to help America confront our tragic history of racial injustice and live up to the meaning of our creed, he was a patriot.
The young soldier who first spoke about the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, he is a patriot.
(APPLAUSE)
Recognizing a wrong being committed in this country's name, insisting that we deliver on the promise of our Constitution, these are the acts of patriots, men and women who are defending what is best in America. And we should never forget that, especially when we disagree with them, especially when they make us uncomfortable with their words. (APPLAUSE)
That's part of the American tradition. That's part of why we are proud to be Americans.
Beyond a loyalty to America's ideals, beyond a willingness to dissent on behalf of those ideals, I also believe that patriotism must, if it is to mean anything, involve the willingness to sacrifice, to give up something we value on behalf of a larger cause.
Now, for those who've fought under the flag of this nation, for the young veterans like Vince, the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed, for those like John McCain, who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary.
And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters of both sides.
(APPLAUSE)
We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform, period, full-stop.
(APPLAUSE)
Indeed, one of the good things to emerge from the current conflict in Iraq has been the widespread recognition that, whether you support this war or oppose it, the sacrifice of our troops is always worthy of honor. That's a change from the '60s that's been very welcome to many of us.
But for the rest of us, for those of us not in uniform or without loved ones in the military, the call to service for the country's greater good remains an imperative of citizenship. Sadly, in recent years, in the midst of war on two fronts, this call to service never came.
After 9/11, we were asked to shop. The wealthiest among us saw their tax obligations decline, something that had never occurred before during wartime, even as the costs of war continued to mount. Rather than work together to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and thereby lessen our vulnerability to a volatile region, our energy policy remained unchanged and our oil dependence only grew.
In spite of this absence of leadership from Washington, I've seen a new generation of Americans begin to take up the call. I meet them everywhere I go, young people involved in the project of American renewal, not only those who have signed up to fight for our country in distant lands, but those who are fighting for a better America right here at home, by reaching out to those who are less fortunate, by teaching in underserved schools, or caring for the sick in understaffed hospitals, or promoting more sustainable energy policies in their local communities.
(APPLAUSE)
I believe one of the tasks of the next administration is to ensure that this movement towards service grows and sustains itself in the years to come.
We should expand AmeriCorps and grow the Peace Corps. We should encourage national service by making it a part of the requirement for a new college assistance program, even as we strengthen the benefits for those whose sense of duty has already led them to serve in our military.
(APPLAUSE)
So government can do its part. We must remember, though, that true patriotism cannot be forced or legislated with a mere set of government programs. Instead, it must reside in the hearts of our people, and cultivated in the heart of our culture, and nurtured in the hearts of our children.
As we begin...
(APPLAUSE)
As we begin our fourth century as a nation, it is easy to take the extraordinary nature of America for granted. But it is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to instill that history in our children, both at home and at school.
The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many young Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are, or what they did, or the significance of the founding documents that bear their names.
(APPLAUSE)
Too many children are ignorant of the sheer effort, the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations, to ensure that this country survived war and depression, through the great struggles of civil, and social, and worker's rights.
It is up to us, then, to teach them. It is up to us to teach them that even though we have faced great challenges and made our share of mistakes, we have always been able to come together and make this nation stronger, and more prosperous, and more united, and more just.
It's up to us to teach them that America has been a force for good in the world and that other nations and other people have looked to us as the last, best hope on Earth. It is up to us to teach them that it is good to give back to one's community, that it is honorable to serve in the military, that it is vital to participate in our democracy and make our voices heard.
(APPLAUSE)
And it is up to us to teach our children a lesson that those of us in politics all too often forget: that patriotism involves not only defending this country against external threat, but also working constantly to make America a better place for future generations.
(APPLAUSE)
When we pile up mountains of debt for the next generation to absorb or put off changes to our energy policies, knowing full well the potential consequences of inaction, we are placing our short-term interests ahead of the nation's long-term well-being.
When we fail to educate effectively millions of our children so that they might compete in a global economy or we fail to invest in the basic scientific research that has driven innovation in this country, we risk leaving behind an America that has fallen in the ranks of the world.
Just as patriotism involves each of us making a commitment to this nation that extends beyond our own individual immediate self- interest, so must that commitment extend beyond our own time here on Earth.
Our greatest leaders have always understood this. They've defined patriotism with an eye towards posterity.
George Washington is rightly revered for his leadership of the Continental Army, but one of his greatest acts of patriotism was his insistence on stepping down after two terms, thereby setting a pattern for those that would follow, reminding future presidents that this is a government of and by and for the people.
(APPLAUSE)
Abraham Lincoln did not simply win a war or hold the union together. In his unwillingness to demonize those against whom he fought, in his refusal to succumb to either the hatred or self- righteousness that war can unleash, in his ultimate insistence that in the aftermath of war the nation would no longer remain half-slave and half-free, in his trust in the better angels of our nature, Lincoln displayed the wisdom and courage that sets a standard for patriotism.
And it was the most famous son of Independence, Harry S Truman, who sat in the White House during his final days in office and said in his farewell address, "When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I to take up the presidential task. But through all of it, through all the years I have worked here in this room, I have been well aware than I did not really work alone, that you were working with me. No president could ever hope to lead our country or to sustain the burdens of this office, save the people helped with their support."
In the end...
(APPLAUSE)
That's what Truman said. And in the end, it may be this quality that best describes patriotism in my mind, not just a love of America in the abstract, but a very particular love for, and faith in, the American people.
That's why our hearts swell with pride at the sight of our flag, why we shed a tear as the lonely notes of "Taps" sound. For we know that the greatness of this country, its victories in war, its enormous wealth, its scientific and cultural achievements, all result from the energy and imagination of the American people, their toil, drive, struggle, their restlessness and humor and quiet heroism.
That's the liberty we defend, the liberty of each of us to pursue our own dreams. That's the equality we seek, not an equality of results, but the chance of every single one of us to make it if we try.
That's the community we strive to build, one in which we trust in this sometimes messy democracy of ours, one in which we continue to insist that there is nothing we cannot do when we put our mind to it, one in which we see ourselves as part of a larger story, our own fates wrapped up in the fates of those who share allegiance to America's happy and singular creed.
(APPLAUSE)
That's what patriotism means to me. Thank you, Independence. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
And the odds against them were long, and the risks were enormous, for even if they survived that particular battle, any ultimate failure would bring charges of treason and death by hanging. And yet they took that chance.
They did so not on behalf of a particular tribe or lineage, but on behalf of a larger idea: the idea of liberty, the idea of God- given, inalienable rights.
And when the first shot of that fateful day, a shot heard 'round the world, was fired, the American Revolution and America's experiment with democracy began.
Those men of Lexington and Concord were among our first patriots. And at the beginning of a week when we celebrate the birth of our nation, I think it's fitting to pause for a moment and reflect on the meaning of patriotism, theirs and ours.
We do so in part because we're in the midst of war. More than 1.5 million of our finest young men and women have now fought in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over 60,000 have been wounded. Over 4,600 have been laid to rest. The costs of war have been great, and the debate surrounding our mission in Iraq has been fierce.
It's natural in light of such sacrifice by so many to think more deeply about the commitments that bind us together as a nation and that bind us to each other, as well.
We reflect on these questions also because we are in the midst of a presidential election, perhaps the most consequential in generations, a contest that will determine the course of this nation for years, perhaps decades, to come.
Not only is it a debate about big issues -- health care, jobs, energy, education, retirement security -- but it's also a debate about values.
How do we keep ourselves safe and secure while preserving our liberties? How do we restore trust in a government that seems increasingly removed from its people and dominated by special interests?
How do we ensure that, in an increasingly global economy, the winners maintain allegiance to the less fortunate? And how do we resolve our differences at a time of increasing diversity?
Finally, it's worth considering the meaning of patriotism, because the question of who is or is not a patriot all too often poisons our political debates in ways that divide us rather than bring us together.
I've come to know this from my own experience on the campaign trail. Throughout my life, I've always taken my deep and abiding love for this country as a given. It was how I was raised; it is what propelled me into public service; it is why I am running for president.
And yet, at certain times over the last 16 months, I've found for the first time my patriotism challenged, at times as a result of my own carelessness, more often as a result of the desire by some to score political points and raise fears and doubts about who I am and what I stand for.
So let me say this at the outset of my remarks: I will never question the patriotism of others in this campaign.
(APPLAUSE)
And I will not stand idly by when I hear others question mine.
(APPLAUSE)
My concerns here aren't simply personal, however. After all, throughout our history, men and women of far greater significance and stature than me have had their patriotism questioned in the midst of momentous debates.
Thomas Jefferson was accused by the Federalists of selling out to the French; the Anti-Federalists were just as convinced that John Adams was in cahoots with the British, intent on restoring monarchal rule.
Likewise, even our wisest presidents have sought sometimes to justify questionable practices on the basis of patriotism: Adams' Alien and Sedition Act, Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, Roosevelt's internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.
All were defended at the time as expressions of patriotism, and those who disagreed with their policies were sometimes labeled as unpatriotic. In other words, the use of patriotism as a political sword or a political shield is as old as the republic.
Still, what's striking about today's patriotism debate is the degree to which it remains rooted in the culture wars of the 1960s, in the arguments that go back 40 years or more.
Some of you remember this. In the early years of the civil rights movement and the opposition to the Vietnam War, defenders of the status quo often accused anybody who questioned the wisdom of government policies of being unpatriotic.
Meanwhile, some of those in the so-called counter-culture of the '60s reacted not merely by criticizing particular government policies, but by attacking the symbols, and in extreme cases the very idea of America itself, by burning flags; by blaming America for all that was wrong with the world; and, perhaps most tragically, by failing to honor those veterans coming home from Vietnam, something that remains a national shame to this day.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, most Americans never bought into these simplistic worldviews, these caricatures of left and of right. Most Americans understood that dissent does not make one unpatriotic...
(APPLAUSE)
... and most Americans understand that there's nothing smart or sophisticated about a cynical disregard for America's traditions and institutions.
(APPLAUSE)
And yet the anger and turmoil of that period never entirely drained away. All too often, our politics still seems trapped in these old, threadbare arguments, a fact most evident during our recent debates about the war in Iraq, when those who opposed administration policy were tagged by some as unpatriotic, and a general providing his best counsel on how to move forward in Iraq was accused of betrayal.
Given the enormous challenges that lie before us, we can no longer afford these sorts of divisions. None of us expect that arguments about patriotism will, or should, vanish entirely. After all, when we argue about patriotism, we're arguing about who we are as a country and, more importantly, who we should be.
But surely we can agree that no party or political philosophy has a monopoly on patriotism.
(APPLAUSE)
And surely we can arrive at a definition of patriotism that, however rough and imperfect, captures the best of America's common spirit.
What would such a definition look like? For me, as for most Americans, patriotism starts as a gut instinct, a loyalty and love for country that's rooted in some of my earliest memories.
And I'm not just talking about the recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, or the Thanksgiving pageants at school, or the same fireworks on the Fourth of July that we just heard from earlier from Vince. Rather, as wonderful as these things may be, I'm referring to the way the American ideal wove its way throughout the lessons of my family, the lessons that my family taught me as a child.
You know, one of my earliest memories is of sitting on my grandfather's shoulders and watching the astronauts come to shore in Hawaii. I remember the cheers and the small flags that people waved, and my grandfather explaining how we Americans could do anything we set our minds to do. That's my idea of America.
(APPLAUSE)
I remember listening to my grandmother telling stories about her work on a bomber assembly line during World War II. I remember my grandfather handing me his dog tags from his time in Patton's army and understanding that his defense of this country marked one of his greatest sources of pride. That's my idea of America.
I remember...
(APPLAUSE)
I remember, when living for four years in Indonesia as a child, I listened to my mother reading me the first lines of the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
I remember her explaining how this declaration applied to every American, black and white and brown alike, how those words and the words of the United States Constitution protected us from the injustices that we witnessed other people suffering during those years abroad. That's my idea of America.
(APPLAUSE)
As I got older, that gut instinct that so many of us have, that America is the greatest country on Earth, would survive...
(APPLAUSE)
That gut instinct, that knowledge would survive my growing awareness of our nation's imperfections: its ongoing racial strife; the perversions of our political system that were laid bare during the Watergate hearings; the wrenching poverty of the Mississippi Delta and the hills of Appalachia, and inner cities and rural communities all across America.
That instinct that this is the greatest country on Earth survived not only because, in my mind, the joys of American life and culture -- its vitality, its variety, its freedom -- always outweighed its imperfections, but because I learned that what makes America great has never been its perfection, but the belief that it can be made better.
I came to understand that our revolution was waged for the sake of that belief: that we could be governed by laws, not men; that we could be equal in the eyes of those laws; that we could be free to say what we want, and assemble with whomever we want, and worship as we please; that we could have the right to pursue our individual dreams, but the obligation to help our fellow citizens pursue theirs.
(APPLAUSE)
You know, for a young man like me of mixed race, without firm anchor in any particular community, without even a father's steadying hand, it is this essential American idea -- that we are not constrained by the accident of birth, but can make of our lives what we will -- that has defined my life, just as it has defined the life of so many other Americans.
(APPLAUSE)
And that's why, for me, patriotism is always more than just loyalty to a place on a map or a certain kind of people. Instead, it's also loyalty to America's ideals, ideals for which anyone can sacrifice, or defend, or give their last full measure of devotion.
I believe it is this loyalty that allows a country teeming with different races and ethnicities, religions and customs, to come together as one. It is the application of these ideals that separates us from Zimbabwe, where the opposition party and their supporters have been silently hunted, tortured or killed.
It separates us from Burma, where tens of thousands continue to struggle for basic food and shelter in the wake of a monstrous storm because a military junta fears opening up the country to outsiders.
Or Iraq, where, despite the heroic efforts of our military, men and women like this, and the courage of many ordinary Iraqis, even limited cooperation between various factions remains far too elusive.
I believe those who attack America's flaws without acknowledging the singular greatness of our ideals, and their proven capacity to inspire a better world, do not truly understand America.
(APPLAUSE)
Of course, precisely because America isn't perfect, precisely because our ideals constantly demand more from us, patriotism can never be defined as loyalty to any particular leader, or government, or policy.
(APPLAUSE)
As Mark Twain, that greatest of American satirists and proud son of Missouri, once wrote, "Patriotism is supporting your country all the time and your government when it deserves it."
(LAUGHTER)
That's what patriotism is.
(APPLAUSE)
That's what patriotism is.
(APPLAUSE)
Now, we may hope that our leaders and our government stand up for our ideals, stand up for what's right, and there are many times in our history when that's occurred. But when our laws, when our leaders or our government are out of alignment with those ideals, then the dissent of ordinary Americans may prove to be one of the truest expressions of patriotism.
(APPLAUSE)
The young preacher from Georgia, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who led a movement to help America confront our tragic history of racial injustice and live up to the meaning of our creed, he was a patriot.
The young soldier who first spoke about the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, he is a patriot.
(APPLAUSE)
Recognizing a wrong being committed in this country's name, insisting that we deliver on the promise of our Constitution, these are the acts of patriots, men and women who are defending what is best in America. And we should never forget that, especially when we disagree with them, especially when they make us uncomfortable with their words. (APPLAUSE)
That's part of the American tradition. That's part of why we are proud to be Americans.
Beyond a loyalty to America's ideals, beyond a willingness to dissent on behalf of those ideals, I also believe that patriotism must, if it is to mean anything, involve the willingness to sacrifice, to give up something we value on behalf of a larger cause.
Now, for those who've fought under the flag of this nation, for the young veterans like Vince, the young veterans I meet when I visit Walter Reed, for those like John McCain, who have endured physical torment in service to our country, no further proof of such sacrifice is necessary.
And let me also add that no one should ever devalue that service, especially for the sake of a political campaign, and that goes for supporters of both sides.
(APPLAUSE)
We must always express our profound gratitude for the service of our men and women in uniform, period, full-stop.
(APPLAUSE)
Indeed, one of the good things to emerge from the current conflict in Iraq has been the widespread recognition that, whether you support this war or oppose it, the sacrifice of our troops is always worthy of honor. That's a change from the '60s that's been very welcome to many of us.
But for the rest of us, for those of us not in uniform or without loved ones in the military, the call to service for the country's greater good remains an imperative of citizenship. Sadly, in recent years, in the midst of war on two fronts, this call to service never came.
After 9/11, we were asked to shop. The wealthiest among us saw their tax obligations decline, something that had never occurred before during wartime, even as the costs of war continued to mount. Rather than work together to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and thereby lessen our vulnerability to a volatile region, our energy policy remained unchanged and our oil dependence only grew.
In spite of this absence of leadership from Washington, I've seen a new generation of Americans begin to take up the call. I meet them everywhere I go, young people involved in the project of American renewal, not only those who have signed up to fight for our country in distant lands, but those who are fighting for a better America right here at home, by reaching out to those who are less fortunate, by teaching in underserved schools, or caring for the sick in understaffed hospitals, or promoting more sustainable energy policies in their local communities.
(APPLAUSE)
I believe one of the tasks of the next administration is to ensure that this movement towards service grows and sustains itself in the years to come.
We should expand AmeriCorps and grow the Peace Corps. We should encourage national service by making it a part of the requirement for a new college assistance program, even as we strengthen the benefits for those whose sense of duty has already led them to serve in our military.
(APPLAUSE)
So government can do its part. We must remember, though, that true patriotism cannot be forced or legislated with a mere set of government programs. Instead, it must reside in the hearts of our people, and cultivated in the heart of our culture, and nurtured in the hearts of our children.
As we begin...
(APPLAUSE)
As we begin our fourth century as a nation, it is easy to take the extraordinary nature of America for granted. But it is our responsibility as Americans and as parents to instill that history in our children, both at home and at school.
The loss of quality civic education from so many of our classrooms has left too many young Americans without the most basic knowledge of who our forefathers are, or what they did, or the significance of the founding documents that bear their names.
(APPLAUSE)
Too many children are ignorant of the sheer effort, the risks and sacrifices made by previous generations, to ensure that this country survived war and depression, through the great struggles of civil, and social, and worker's rights.
It is up to us, then, to teach them. It is up to us to teach them that even though we have faced great challenges and made our share of mistakes, we have always been able to come together and make this nation stronger, and more prosperous, and more united, and more just.
It's up to us to teach them that America has been a force for good in the world and that other nations and other people have looked to us as the last, best hope on Earth. It is up to us to teach them that it is good to give back to one's community, that it is honorable to serve in the military, that it is vital to participate in our democracy and make our voices heard.
(APPLAUSE)
And it is up to us to teach our children a lesson that those of us in politics all too often forget: that patriotism involves not only defending this country against external threat, but also working constantly to make America a better place for future generations.
(APPLAUSE)
When we pile up mountains of debt for the next generation to absorb or put off changes to our energy policies, knowing full well the potential consequences of inaction, we are placing our short-term interests ahead of the nation's long-term well-being.
When we fail to educate effectively millions of our children so that they might compete in a global economy or we fail to invest in the basic scientific research that has driven innovation in this country, we risk leaving behind an America that has fallen in the ranks of the world.
Just as patriotism involves each of us making a commitment to this nation that extends beyond our own individual immediate self- interest, so must that commitment extend beyond our own time here on Earth.
Our greatest leaders have always understood this. They've defined patriotism with an eye towards posterity.
George Washington is rightly revered for his leadership of the Continental Army, but one of his greatest acts of patriotism was his insistence on stepping down after two terms, thereby setting a pattern for those that would follow, reminding future presidents that this is a government of and by and for the people.
(APPLAUSE)
Abraham Lincoln did not simply win a war or hold the union together. In his unwillingness to demonize those against whom he fought, in his refusal to succumb to either the hatred or self- righteousness that war can unleash, in his ultimate insistence that in the aftermath of war the nation would no longer remain half-slave and half-free, in his trust in the better angels of our nature, Lincoln displayed the wisdom and courage that sets a standard for patriotism.
And it was the most famous son of Independence, Harry S Truman, who sat in the White House during his final days in office and said in his farewell address, "When Franklin Roosevelt died, I felt there must be a million men better qualified than I to take up the presidential task. But through all of it, through all the years I have worked here in this room, I have been well aware than I did not really work alone, that you were working with me. No president could ever hope to lead our country or to sustain the burdens of this office, save the people helped with their support."
In the end...
(APPLAUSE)
That's what Truman said. And in the end, it may be this quality that best describes patriotism in my mind, not just a love of America in the abstract, but a very particular love for, and faith in, the American people.
That's why our hearts swell with pride at the sight of our flag, why we shed a tear as the lonely notes of "Taps" sound. For we know that the greatness of this country, its victories in war, its enormous wealth, its scientific and cultural achievements, all result from the energy and imagination of the American people, their toil, drive, struggle, their restlessness and humor and quiet heroism.
That's the liberty we defend, the liberty of each of us to pursue our own dreams. That's the equality we seek, not an equality of results, but the chance of every single one of us to make it if we try.
That's the community we strive to build, one in which we trust in this sometimes messy democracy of ours, one in which we continue to insist that there is nothing we cannot do when we put our mind to it, one in which we see ourselves as part of a larger story, our own fates wrapped up in the fates of those who share allegiance to America's happy and singular creed.
(APPLAUSE)
That's what patriotism means to me. Thank you, Independence. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.
(APPLAUSE)
Thank you.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Ice on Mars!!
On Sunday, I posted that the Phoenix probe uncovered a white substance which might be frozen water, though it could have been a salt. Turns out it IS water. The evidence? Some of it disappeared by the time the next picture was taken--it must have evaporated. You can see that white chunks in the Sol 20 picture have disappeared within 4 Martian days. Salt doesn't do that. So Phoenix has found water ice on Mars!
As I said Sunday, this is the first contact with alien water. The probe will now look for evidence of the building blocks for life.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Obama's Father's Day Speech
Barack Obama speaks on the importance of fatherhood and challenges the African American community to take more responsibility. It is not a partisan speech--McCain is never mentioned. In fact there is no policy at all for the first 18 minutes. In the last minute and a half he talks abut his faith in Jesus and God. I could do without the "God as our father" analogy. Other than that, it was a great speech.
Mars Phoenix Probe Hits White Gold?
The Mars Phoenix probe, which touched down on the north polar region of Mars twenty days ago, has begun digging with its robotic arm. Dirt from the first scoop was "stickier" than expected perhaps due to moisture? Where would moisture come from on that dry world? Scientists chose the polar landing site because orbital imaging indicated that there is ice underneath the surface. But could it be this close to the surface? Pictured above is the trench that Phoenix has enlarged. You can see light patches in the trenches. They are either streaks of some salt, or water ice--white gold, if you will. If turns out to be ice, it will be the first alien water we've ever had a chance to study. We should find out very soon. [It IS ice!]
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Obama Challenges Smears
When someone says something truly ridiculous about you, you have two options: ignore it or rebut it. If you rebut it, you risk elevating the person making the charge. But if you ignore it, some people may believe it is true. In 2004, John Kerry chose not to rebut criticism from a right wing group of Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that challenged Kerry's war record. This kind of unfounded attack on something that should be your greatest strength is now called "swiftboating." It cost Kerry dearly. By the time he responded, it was too late to change some people's opinions. [It is is interesting how a belief can sometimes be cemented in the mind quickly and firmly enough to resist all attempts to alter it using factual information.]
Senator Obama has decided it is better to rebut the spurious charges than to leave them unchallenged. His campaign has set up a website to rebut smears. If anyone you know has heard a scurrilous rumor about Barack Obama, please send them to:
Monday, May 26, 2008
Mars Phoenix Probe Sees Permafrost Pattern
The Mars Phoenix probe has just landed safely on the polar region of Mars. The terrain exhibits "polygonal cracking"—it looks like it has been shaped by repeated melting and freezing of ice below the surface. If Phoenix's digging arm can detect that ice, it would be the first contact with alien water.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Men for Clinton Supporters to Blame
In the hotly contested Democratic primary for US President, many supporters on both sides have focused on things they see as unfair. Inevitably, issues of race and gender arise. Some people have voted for Senator Obama because he is black and some for Senator Clinton because she is female. In both cases these voters hope their candidates will break through a glass ceiling and provide a role model for those to come. I think this is fine. Others vote against Obama because he is black or against Clinton because she is female. This is of course terribly wrong, and supporters of both candidates should decry both sins. But I think that the vast majority of people, such as myself, voted for who they thought was the best candidate, not for issues of race or gender. Obama has won a good fraction of the white vote and Clinton has won a good fraction of the male vote.
Some Clinton supporters have blamed her apparent loss on sexism. While I think it is true that some, particularly in the cable media, have made some misogynist comments, they are but a drop in the bucket of verbiage that has been spewed ad nauseam in this long contest. No, I think there are four main reasons that Barack Obama is now within reach of the nomination:
- Senator Obama is a thoughtful, talented candidate with a powerful message of change.
- The Obama campaign has excelled strategically at the large (50 state strategy) and the small (cool website).
- There are millions of voters who were waiting for a candidate like Barack. We existed before his campaign, he just energized us.
- Senator Clinton's campaign made two key strategic blunders.
It is the last point to which I devote the rest of the post.
Senator Clinton's campaign was run mostly by two men, Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson. Mark Penn has since stepped down from the top job. The two key mistakes they made were not campaigning in the caucus states on Super Tuesday, and not having a strategy for after Super Tuesday. They assumed that winning big states like NY, NJ, CA, as well as Clinton's home state of Arkansas, would seal the deal. But the Obama campaign cobbled together enough pledged delegates from IL and some smaller states to make the day nearly a tie. When the Clinton campaign did not achieve a blowout, they had no strategy to compete in the next set of states, and they lost a dozen in a row. These were fatal blows to the Clinton campaign.
I think this was a matter of hubris. Now maybe it is unfair, but hubris does tend to be associated with men. And the men that displayed that hubris, the men that destroyed Hillary Clinton's chances, were Mark Penn and Howard Wolfson. So Clinton supporters, please, if you want to blame men for Senator Clinton's impending loss, you need look no further than her own cocky campaign strategists.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Obama on Trade and Investing in Science
Senator Obama answers a question about trade. He makes clear that he is not opposed to trade, but he wants trade deals with much stricter labor, safety, and environmental standards. He also talks about the need to support innovation, such as by doubling the research and development budget. Let me say a few words about that.
Much of the world economy is based on science and technology. While there is a lot of appreciation for the latter--just look at the computer you read this on--the role of basic scientific research in creating that technology is often overlooked. Without research over the previous decades, current technology could not continue advancing at the same rate. Without basic research today, future technological innovation would be starved.
Sometimes the payoff is fairly quick. For example, something called giant magnetoresistance was discovered 20 years ago, and now it is used in most computer hard drives. (The 2007 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Albert Fert and Peter Grünberg for their discovery of giant magnetoresistance.)
Sometimes the payoff takes a long time. For example, the arcane theory of quantum mechanics was developed in the 1920's. Few would have predicted a theory needed only at the atomic scale would end up being important to the world economy. But most of our understanding of electronics, lasers, nuclear technology, and chemistry depends on an understanding of quantum mechanics. In fact, it has been estimated that 1/3 of the can be traced back to quantum mechanics.
The point is, we do not know which avenues of scientific research will lead to future technological breakthroughs. Currently, the US government spends about 0.3% of the US GNP on basic research. The report Rising Above the Gathering Storm calls for doubling that number--this is probably what motivated Senator Obama's comment. That report also calls for improving math and science education--which I think is crucial for our future success.
Friday, May 9, 2008
Obama Takes the Lead in Superdelegates
Since early February, Barack Obama has been chipping away at Hillary Clinton's lead in Superdelegates. The 2008 Democratic Convention Watch Superdelegate Endorsement List has chronicled her fall from a lead of around 100 on Super Tuesday, to 7.5 today. But this tally excludes an important category of superdelegates called the Pelosi Club, which I explain below. When the Pelosi Club superdelegates are included in the tally, her 'lead' is reduced by 8, which means that
Barack Obama Now LEADS in superdelegates
Those familiar with this blog have heard about the Pelosi Club in several posts, including The Cantwell Club, my Running List of Obama Endorsements, and of course, Former President Jimmy Carter Joins the Pelosi Club. In brief, any superdelegate who has committed to voting for the winner of the pledged delegates (those elected by the voters) is in the Pelosi Club. The group is named after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who has repeatedly said she would cast her vote for the winner of the pledged delegates.
At this point, all experts agree that Clinton cannot overtake Obama in pledged delegates. She would need to get more than 80% of all remaining votes to do so--a larger margin than any state so far for either side. So, for the purposes of tabulating the number of superdelegates who have said how they will cast votes at the Convention, it makes sense to add the Pelosi Club superdelegates into Obama's column.
What is the effect of that? Well, there are two Pelosi Club members who have endorsed Obama (Zoe Lofgren and Tom Daschle). They are already being counted in the Obama column, so there is no effect on the tally. There are 6 uncommitted Pelosi Club superdelegates (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Jimmy Carter, Governor Roy Romer, Christine Pelosi, Betty Richie, and Denise Johnson). Adding them reduces Clinton's superdelegate lead by 6. Finally, there is 1 Pelosi Club superdelegate who has endorsed Clinton: Maria Cantwell. Her commitment to cast her vote for the pledged delegate winner means we should move her from the Clinton to the Obama column, which reduces Clinton's superdelegate lead by 2.
The combined effect of counting these Pelosi Club members is to reduces Clinton's superdelegate lead by 8, from 7.5 to -0.5. Thus Obama now has a lead in superdelegates (as well as a huge lead in pledged delegates).
Monday, May 5, 2008
Obama Will Help Our Image Around the World
Ordinarily, I would say that the opinions of people around the world should not matter much in a US election. But after 8 years of George W. Bush's policies destroying our image, it is relevant that there is only one candidate who has a great chance to restore that image, Barack Obama. In recognition of that, here is a video endorsement of Obama from an Italian who is married to an American.
"I love the US very much... we live in a globalized world... when I am outside the US, I always want to defend it... It is time for America to restore its moral standing in the world... Barack Obama is the only one who can bring about that change"
Many people around the world had pictures of JFK on their walls. It would be wonderful to have another American president inspire that kind of global good will.
[Thanks to Miriam for that meme.]
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Former President Jimmy Carter Joins the Pelosi Club
Former President Jimmy Carter previously strongly hinted that he supported Senator Obama. Since he did not officially endorse him, I did not add him to my Running List of Obama Endorsements. But now President Carter has said he that as a superdelegate he would not go against the will of the people--he would vote for the winner of the pledged delegates, who is all but certain to be Barack Obama. In short, President Carter has joined the Pelosi Club.
“It would be undemocratic if the superdelegates blatantly went against the decision of Democratic voters across the nation... Whoever gets the most [pledged] delegates ought to be the nominee.”
--Former President Jimmy Carter [source]
There are now 9 Pelosi Club members: 2 Obama supporters, 6 uncommitted, and 1 Clinton supporter (Maria Cantwell). For the purposes of adjusting the superdelegate difference between Clinton and Obama, one should add the uncommitted SDs and twice the Clinton SDs in the club (because the latter will leave the Clinton column and move to the Obama column when the pledged delegate total is finalized)--i.e. one should adjust Obama's numbers up by 8 (=6+2*1).
For example, as of today, the Superdelegate Endorsement List has Clinton leading Obama 267 to 244, i.e. by 23 superdelegates. But at the end of the primaries, the 6 uncommitted Pelosi Club members (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, President Jimmy Carter, Governor Roy Romer, Christine Pelosi, Betty Richie, and Denise Johnson) will enter the Obama column, and the Clinton SD in the Pelosi Club, Maria Cantwell, will switch from Clinton to Obama, so the total really is 266 to 251, only a 15 SD lead for Clinton. Many are watching for when Obama overtakes Clinton in superdelegates. If one counts the Pelosi club members, it will happen perhaps a week earlier.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Electrons and Their Siblings
Electrons are the little points of charge that are racing right now through the logic board of your computer, just so you can read this blog. They are tiny. In fact, they are too small to measure. We know that they are smaller than 1/1000th the size of a proton†. They weigh 1/1800th as much as the proton. They have one unit of electric charge.
The photo is of J. J. Thompson, who used the pictured Cathode Ray Tube to discover the electron in 1897.
There are two siblings of the electron which are just like electrons, except heavier. They are called the muon and the tau.
[first of three posts designed to explain what this giant thing is.]
Muons (μ) weigh about 200 times as much as the electron. They are not stable, and decay in about 2 millionths of a second, on average. That's actually very long-lived for an unstable particle. They are produced in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays, and because they are going near the speed of light, they live until they reach the ground (I'll explain that later). There are hundreds of them going through you every second. Don't worry, we have spent our entire time as a species bathed in a background of particles going through us. Most of them pass straight through, and our bodies are well equipped to deal with a small amount of radiation.
Taus (Ï„) weigh about 3500 times as much as the electron (they are almost twice as heavy as a proton). They are even less stable than muons, and decay in about a trillionth of a second. Since they are shorter-lived and produced less frequently in cosmic rays, there are far fewer taus going through you than muons.
[next Neutrinos and Their Siblings]
† 'Size' becomes less well defined for elementary particles. What do use to measure it? Here I mean that electrons don't seem to be made of other particles and so are pointlike, as far as we can tell. (Protons and neutrons are made of quarks, and they do have a size, a quadrillionth of a meter, better known as a femtometer.)
[Note: The numbers for mass in the table are actually in units of Gev/c2, and the proton weighs 0.938 Gev/c2, not 1, but one shouldn't worry about such small differences when one is getting a sense of scale.]
[confidence: established, my qualifications: trained]
Monday, March 31, 2008
The Cantwell Club
The blog 2008 Democratic Convention Watch has an excellent running post called the Superdelegate Endorsement List, which keeps track of which candidates each of the 793 superdelegates support. I have found it very useful for my Running List of Obama Endorsements. Currently, about 214 superdelegates have said they would support Obama, 246 would support Clinton, and 333 of them are undeclared. (It should be noted that Obama leads among superdelegates who are elected officials, as opposed to DNC members.)
Recently, the site has decided that a fourth category is needed, which they call the Pelosi Club, after Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. She has said,
"If the votes of the superdelegates overturn what happened in the elections, it would be harmful to the Democratic Party...The way the system works is that the [pledged] delegates choose the nominee."
Of course, Senator Obama is almost certain to end up with a majority of pledged delegates, so despite the fact that Speaker Pelosi has not endorsed either candidate explicitly, for purposes of tallying votes, she should be counted in the Obama column.
There are currently six other members of the Pelosi club, three like Pelosi who have not endorsed a candidate by name, two who have endorsed Obama (Rep. Zoe Lofgren and Former Sen. Tom Daschle), and one who has endorsed Clinton...Senator Maria Cantwell.
So Maria Cantwell, the Junior Senator from the state of Washington, is in a club by herself. She is the only superdelegate who endorses Clinton, but will vote for Obama (absent a total collapse of the Obama campaign). She has not renounced her endorsement of Senator Clinton, she has simply said that the will of the people is more important than her opinion:
"If we have a candidate who has the most delegates and the most states,” the Democratic party should come together around that candidate, Cantwell said. The pledged delegate count will be the most important factor, she said, because that is the basis of the nominating process.
With that one quote, she diminished Senator Clinton's lead in superdelegates by two (decreasing the number pledged to Hillary by one, and increasing the number who will vote for Barack by one).
I think Senator Cantwell should be rewarded for respecting democracy. If you concur, please send her a message of thanks, or contribute to her campaign. Just mention that you are doing it in honor of her starting the Cantwell Club.
I would like other superdelegates who have endorsed Senator Clinton to join the Cantwell Club. They need not renounce their endorsement of Hillary to join the club, they can simply say that democracy is more important than their personal opinion and so they will vote for the winner of the pledged delegates. An obvious candidate is the Senior Senator from the state of Washington, Patty Murray. If you want to send a positive message encouraging her to join the Cantwell Club, contact her here.
Friday, March 28, 2008
Senator Obama's NYC Speech on the Economy
This is a detailed, thoughtful look at our financial situation from the underlying forces leading to the current upheaval to specific policy proposals on how to fix it. Senator Obama describes the thinking on both sides, and charts a sensible middle path. He conveys that he is as thoughtful and knowledgeable as he is inspiring. He begins with a history lesson and ends with stirring rhetoric.
In other words, it is a typical Barack Obama speech. Below is the full text.
March 27, 2008
Obama on ‘Renewing the American Economy’
Following is the transcript of Barack Obama's economic speech at Cooper Union in New York, as provided by CQ Transcriptions Inc.
[PRIOR TO START OF VIDEO]
Thank you so much for being here.
Let me begin by thanking Dr. Drucker and Cooper Union for hosting us here today. I have to say that the last time an Illinois politician made a speech here it was pretty good. So...
(LAUGHTER)
... the bar is high. And I -- I want everybody to know right at the outset here that this may not be living for generations to come, the way Lincoln's speech did. I want to thank all our elected supporters who are here. I want to -- there are a couple of special guests that I'm very appreciative for being in attendance: Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board...
(APPLAUSE)
We appreciate his presence. William Donaldson, the former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. We thank you. And finally I want to thank the mayor of this great city, mayor Bloomberg, for his extraordinary leadership. At a time...
(APPLAUSE)
At a time when Washington is divided in old ideological battles, he shows us what can be achieved when we bring people together to seek pragmatic solutions. Not only has he been a remarkable leader for New York, he's established himself as a major voice in our national debate on issues like renewing our economy, educating our children and seeking energy independence. So, Mr. Mayor, I share your determination to bring this country together, to finally make progress for the American people. And I have to tell you that the reason I bought breakfast is because I expect payback at something more expensive.
(LAUGHTER)
I -- the mayor -- I'm no dummy.
(LAUGHTER)
The mayor was a cheap date that morning...
(LAUGHTER)
... and I figured there's some good steakhouses here in New York.
(LAUGHTER)
[VIDEO BEGINS HERE]
In a city of landmarks, we meet at Cooper Union, just uptown from Federal Hall, where George Washington took the oath of office as the first president of the United States. With all history that's passed through the narrow canyons of Lower Manhattan, it's worth taking a moment to reflect on the role that the market has played in the development of the American story. The great task before our founders was putting into practice the ideal that government could simultaneously serve liberty and advance the common good. For Alexander Hamilton, the young secretary of the treasury, that task was bound to the vigor of the American economy. Hamilton had a strong belief in the power of the market, but he balanced that belief with a conviction that human enterprise, and I quote, "may be beneficially stimulated by prudent aids and encouragements on the part of the government." Government, he believed, had an important role to play in advancing our common prosperity. So he nationalized the state Revolutionary War debts, weaving together the economies of the states and creating an American system of credit and capital markets. And he encouraged manufacturing and infrastructure, so products could be moved to market. Hamilton met fierce opposition from Thomas Jefferson, who worried that this brand of capitalism would favor the interests of the few over the many. Jefferson preferred an agrarian economy, because he believed that it would give individual landowners freedom and that this freedom would nurture our democratic institutions. But despite their differences, there was one thing that Jefferson and Hamilton agreed on: that economic growth depended upon the talent and ingenuity of the American people; that in order to harness that talent, opportunity had to remain open to all; and that through education in particular, every American could climb the ladder of social and economic mobility and achieve the American dream. In the more than two centuries since then, we've struggled to balance the same forces that confronted Hamilton and Jefferson.: self-interest and community, markets and democracy, the concentration of wealth and power and the necessity of transparency and opportunity for each and every citizen. Throughout this saga, Americans have pursued their dreams within a free market that has been the engine of America's progress. It's a market that's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world, and opportunity for generations of Americans; a market that has provided great rewards to innovators and risk-takers who've made America a beacon for science and technology and discovery.
But the American experiment has worked in large part because we guided the market's invisible hand with a higher principle. A free market was never meant to be a free license to take whatever you can get, however you can get it. That's why we've put in place rules of the road: to make competition fair and open, and honest. We've done this not to stifle but rather to advance prosperity and liberty. As I said at Nasdaq last September, the core of our economic success is the fundamental truth that each American does better when all Americans do better; that the well-being of American business (OOTC:ARBU) , its capital markets and its American people are aligned. I think that all of us here today would acknowledge that we've lost some of that sense of shared prosperity. Now, this loss has not happened by accident. It's because of decisions made in board rooms, on trading floors and in Washington. Under Republican and Democratic administrations, we've failed to guard against practices that all too often rewarded financial manipulation instead of productivity and sound business practice. We let the special interests put their thumbs on the economic scales. The result has been a distorted market that creates bubbles instead of steady, sustainable growth; a market that favors Wall Street over Main Street, but ends up hurting both. Nor is this trend new. The concentrations of economic power and the failures of our political system to protect the American economy and American consumers from its worst excesses have been a staple of our past: most famously in the 1920s, when such excesses ultimately plunged the country into the Great Depression. That is when government stepped in to create a series of regulatory structures, from FDIC to the Glass-Steagall Act, to serve as a corrective, to protect the American people and American business.
Ironically, it was in reaction to the high taxes and some of the outmoded structures of the New Deal that both individuals and institutions in the '80s and '90s began pushing for changes to this regulatory structure. But instead of sensible reform that rewarded success and freed the creative forces of the market, too often we've excused and even embraced an ethic of greed, corner cutting, insider dealing, things that have always threatened the long-term stability of our economic system. Too often we've lost that common stake in each other's prosperity. Now, let me be clear. The American economy does not stand still and neither should the rules that govern it. The evolution of industries often warrants regulatory reform to foster competition, lower prices or replace outdated oversight structures. Old institutions cannot adequately oversee new practices. Old rules may not fit the roads where our economy is leading. So there were good arguments for changing the rules of the road in the 1990s. Our economy was undergoing a fundamental shift, carried along by the swift currents of technological change and globalization. For the sake of our common prosperity, we needed to adapt to keep markets competitive and fair. Unfortunately, instead of establishing a 21st century regulatory framework, we simply dismantled the old one, aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight. In doing so we encouraged a winner take all, anything goes environment that helped foster devastating dislocations in our economy. Deregulation of the telecommunications sector, for example, fostered competition, but also contributed to massive over-investment.
Partial deregulation of the electricity sector enabled (inaudible). Companies like Enron and WorldCom took advantage of the new regulatory environment to push the envelope, pump up earnings, disguise losses and otherwise engage in accounting fraud to make their profits look better, a practice that led investors to question the balance sheets of all companies and severely damaged public trust in capital markets. This was not the invisible hand at work. Instead, it was the hand of industry lobbyists tilting the playing field in Washington as well as an accounting industry that had developed powerful conflicts of interest and a financial sector that had fueled over-investment. A decade later we have deregulated the financial sector and we face another crisis. A regulatory structure set up for banks in the 1930s needed to change, because the nature of business had changed. But by the time the Glass-Steagall Act was repealed in 1999, the $300 million lobbying effort that drove deregulation was more about facilitating mergers than creating an efficient regulatory framework. And since then we've overseen 21st century innovation, including the aggressive introduction of new and complex financial instruments like hedge funds and non-bank financial companies, with outdated 20th century regulatory tools. New conflicts of interest recalled the worst excesses of the past, like the outrageous news that we learned just yesterday of KPMG allowing a lender to report profits instead of losses so that both parties could make a quick buck. Not surprisingly, the regulatory environment failed to keep pace. When subprime mortgage lending took a reckless and unsustainable turn, a patchwork of regulators were unable or unwilling to protect the American people. Now, the policies of the Bush administration threw the economy further out of balance. Tax cuts without end for the wealthiest Americans. A trillion dollar war in Iraq that didn't need to be fought, paid for with deficit spending and borrowing from foreign creditors like China. A complete...
(APPLAUSE)
A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting, coupled with a generally scornful attitude toward oversight and enforcement, allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long-term consequences. The American economy was bound to suffer a painful correction, and policy-makers found themselves with fewer resources to deal with the consequences. Today those consequences are clear. I see them in every corner of our great country as families face foreclosure and rising costs. I see them in towns across America, where a credit crisis threatens the ability of students to get loans and states can't finance infrastructure projects. I see them here in Manhattan, where one of our biggest investment banks had to be bailed out and the Fed opened its discount window to a host of new institutions with unprecedented implications that we have yet to appreciate. When all is said and done, losses will be in the many hundreds of billions. What was bad for Main Street turned out to be bad for Wall Street. Pain trickled up. And that...
(APPLAUSE)
... and that's why -- that's why the principle that I spoke about at NASDAQ last September is even more urgently true today. In our 21st century economy, there is no dividing line between Main Street and Wall Street.
The decisions made in New York's high rises have consequences for Americans across the country. And whether those Americans can make their house payments, whether they keep their jobs or spend confidentially without falling into debt, that has consequences for the entire market. The future cannot be shaped by the best-connected lobbyists with the best record of raising money for campaigns. This...
(APPLAUSE)
This thinking is wrong for the financial sector and it's wrong for our country. I do not believe the government should stand in the way of innovation or turn back the clock on an older era of regulation. But I do believe that government has a role to play in advancing our common prosperity, by providing stable macroeconomic and financial conditions for sustained growth, by demanding transparency and by ensuring fair competition in the marketplace. Our history should give us confidence that we don't have to choose between an oppressive government-run economy and a chaotic, unforgiving capitalism. It tells us we can emerge from great economic upheavals stronger, not weaker. But we can only do so if we restore confidence in our markets, only if we rebuild trust between investors and lenders, and only if we renew that common interest between Wall Street and Main street that is the key to our long-term success. Now, as most experts agree, our economy is in a recession. To renew our economy and to ensure that we are not doomed to repeat a cycle of bubble and bust again and again and again, we need to address not only the immediate crisis in the housing market, we also need to create a 21st-century regulatory framework and we need to pursue a bold opportunity agenda for the American people.
Most urgently, we have to confront the housing crisis. After months of inaction, the president spoke here in New York and warned against doing too much. His main proposal, extending tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, is completely divorced from reality, the reality that people are facing around the country.
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John McCain recently announced his own plan. And, unfortunately, it amounts to little more than watching this crisis unfold.
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While this is consistent with Senator McCain's determination to run for George Bush's third term...
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... it won't help families that are suffering and it won't help lift our economy out of recession. Over 2 million households are at risk of foreclosure. Millions more have seen their home values plunge. Many Americans are walking away from their homes, which hurts property values for entire neighborhoods and aggravates the credit crisis. To stabilize the housing market and to help bring the foreclosure crisis to an end, I've sponsored Senator Chris Dodd's legislation creating a new FHA housing security program, which will provide meaningful incentives for lenders to buy or refinance existing mortgages. This will allow Americans facing foreclosure to keep their homes at rates that they can afford. Now, Senator McCain argues that government should do nothing to protect borrowers and lenders who've made bad decisions or taken on excessive risk.
And on this point I agree. But the Dodd-Frank package is not a bailout for lenders or investors who gambled recklessly; they will take their losses. It's not a windfall for borrowers, as they will have to share any capital gain. Instead, it offers a responsible and fair way to help bring an end to the foreclosure crisis. It asks both sides to sacrifice, while preventing a long-term collapse that could have enormous ramifications for the most responsible lenders and borrowers, as well as the American people as a whole. That's what Senator McCain ignores. For homeowners who are victims of fraud, I've also proposed a $10 billion foreclosure prevention fund that would help them sell a home that is beyond their means or modify their loan to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy. It's also time to amend our bankruptcy laws so families aren't forced to stick to the terms of a home loan that was predatory or unfair.
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To prevent fraud in the future, I've proposed tough new penalties on fraudulent lenders and a home-score system that will allow consumers to find out more about mortgage offers and whether they'll be able to make payments. To help low- and middle-income families, I proposed a 10 percent mortgage interest tax credit that will allow homeowners who don't itemize their taxes to access incentives for homeownership. And to expand homeownership, we must do more to help communities turn abandoned properties into affordable housing. The government can't do this alone, nor should it. As I said last September, lenders must get ahead of the curve rather than just react to the crisis. They should actively look at all borrowers, offer workouts and reduce the principal on mortgages in trouble. Not only can this prevent the larger losses associated with foreclosure and resale, but it can reduce the extent of government intervention and taxpayer exposure. But beyond dealing with the immediate housing crisis, it is time for the federal government to revamp the regulatory framework dealing with our financial markets.
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Our capital markets have helped us build the strongest economy in the world. They are the source of competitive advantage for our country.
But they cannot succeed without the public's trust. The details of regulatory reform should be developed through sound analysis and public debate. And so I won't try to cross every "t" and dot every "i" in this speech. But there are several core principles for reform that I intend to pursue as president. First, if you can borrow from the government, you should be subject to government oversight and supervision.
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Secretary Paulson admitted this in his remarks yesterday. The Federal Reserve should have basic supervisory authority over any institution to which it may make credit available as a lender of last resort. When the Fed steps in, it is providing lenders an insurance policy underwritten by the American taxpayer. In return, taxpayers have every right to expect that these institutions are not taking excessive risks. Now, the nature of regulation should depend on the degree and extent of the Fed's exposure. But, at the very least, these new regulations should include liquidity and capital requirements. Second, there needs to be general reform of the requirements to which all regulated financial institutions are subjected. Capital requirements should be strengthened, particularly for complex financial instruments like some of the mortgage securities that led to our current crisis. We must develop and rigorously manage liquidity risks. We must investigate ratings agencies and potential conflicts of interest with the people that they are rating. And transparency requirements must demand full disclosure by financial institutions to shareholders and counter parties. As we reform our regulatory system at home, we should work with international arrangements, like the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International Accounting Standards Board, and the Financial Stability Forum, to address the same problems abroad.
The goal should be to ensure that financial institutions around the world are subject to similar rules of the road, both to make the system more stable and to keep our financial institutions competitive. Third, we need to streamline a framework of overlapping and competing regulatory agencies. Reshuffling bureaucracies should not be an end in itself. But the large, complex institutions that dominate the financial landscape don't fit into categories created decades ago. Different institutions compete in multiple markets. Our regulatory system should not pretend otherwise. A streamlined system will provide better oversight and be less costly for regulated institutions. Fourth, we need to regulate institutions for what they do, not what they are. Over the last few years, commercial banks and thrift institutions were subject to guidelines on subprime mortgages that did not apply to mortgage brokers and companies. Now, it makes no sense for the Fed to tighten mortgage guidelines for banks when two-thirds of subprime mortgages don't originate from banks. This regulatory framework...
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This regulatory framework has failed to protect homeowners and it is now clear that it made no sense for our financial system. When it comes to protecting the American people, it should make no difference what kind of institution they are dealing with. Fifth, we must remain vigilant and crack down on trading activity that crosses the line to market manipulation. On recent days, reports have circulated that some traders may have intentionally spread rumors that Bear Stearns (NYSE:BSC) was in financial distress while making market bets against the country. The SEC should investigate and punish this kind of market manipulation and report its conclusions to Congress. Sixth, we need a process that identifies systemic risks to the financial system.
Too often we deal with threats to the financial system that weren't anticipated by regulators. That's why we should create a financial market oversight commission, which would meet regularly and provide advice to the president, Congress and regulators on the state of our financial markets and the risks that face them. These experts' views could help anticipate risks before they erupt into a crisis.
These six principles should guide the legal reforms needed to establish a 21st-century regulatory system, but the changes we need goes beyond the laws and regulation. We need a shift in the cultures of our financial institutions and our regulatory agencies. Financial institutions have to do a better job at managing risk. There is something wrong when board of directors or senior managers don't understand the implications of the risks assumed by their own institutions. It's time to realign incentives and the compensation packages so that both high-level executives and employees better serve the interests of shareholders. And it's time to confront the risks that come with excessive complexity. Even the best government regulation cannot fully substitute for internal risk management. For supervisory agencies, oversight has to keep pace with innovation. As the subprime crisis unfolded, tough questions about new and complex financial instruments were not asked. As a result, the public interest was not protected. We do American business and the American people no favors when we turn a blind eye to excessive leverage and dangerous risks. And finally, the American people must be able to trust that their government is looking out for all of us, not just those who donate to political campaigns. I...
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I fought in the Senate for the most extensive ethics reforms since Watergate, and we got those passed.
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I've refused contributions from federal lobbyists and PACs. I have laid out far-reaching plans that I intend to sign into law as president to bring transparency to government and to end the revolving door between industries and the federal agencies that oversee them.
Once...
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Once we deal with the immediate crisis in housing and strengthen the regulatory system governing our financial markets, we have to make government responsive once again to all of the American people. And our final task, in fact, is to make sure that opportunity is available to all Americans. You know, the bedrock of our economic success is the American dream. It's a dream shared in big cities and small towns, across races, regions and religions, that, if you work hard, you can support a family; that if you get sick, there will be health care that you can afford; that you can retire...
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... that you can retire with the dignity and security and respect that you've earned; and that your children can get a good education and young people can go to college, even if they don't come from a wealthy family. That's our common hope.
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That's our common hope across this country. That's the essence of the American dream. But today, for far too many Americans, this dream is slipping away. Wall Street has been recently gripped by gloom over our economic situation. But for many Americans, the economy has effectively been in recession for the past seven years. We have just come through...
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We have just come through the first sustained period of economic growth since World War II that was not accompanied by a growth in incomes for typical families. Americans are working harder for less.
Costs are rising, and it's not clear that we'll leave a legacy of opportunity to our children and our grandchildren. And that's why throughout this campaign I've put forward a series of proposals that will foster economic growth from the bottom up and not just from the top down. And that's why the last time I spoke on the economy here in New York, I talked about the need to put the policies of George W. Bush behind us, policies that have essentially said...
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... policies that have essentially said to the American people, "You are on your own."
We need policies that once again recognize that we are in this together. And we need the most powerful, the wealthiest among us -- those who are in attendance here today, we need you to get behind that agenda.
It's an agenda that starts with providing a stimulus that will reach the most vulnerable Americans, including immediate relief to areas hardest hit by the housing crisis and a significant extension of unemployment insurance for those who are out of work.
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If we can extend a hand to banks on Wall Street when they get into trouble, we can extend a hand to Americans who are struggling, often through no fault of their own.
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Beyond these short-term measure, as president, I will be committed to putting the American dream on a firmer footing. To reward work and make retirement secure, we'll provide an income tax (sic) of up to $1,000 for a working family and eliminate income taxes altogether for any retiree bringing in less than $50,000 per year.
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To make health care affordable for all Americans, we'll cut costs and provide coverage to all who need it. To put Americans to work, we'll create millions of new green jobs and invest in rebuilding our nation's infrastructure.
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To extend opportunity, we'll invest in our schools and our teachers and make college affordable for every American. And to ensure...
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And to ensure that America stays on the cutting edge, we'll expand broadband access, expand funding for basic scientific research, and pass comprehensive immigration reform so that we continue to attract the best and the brightest to our shores.
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I know that making these changes won't be easy. I will not pretend that this will come without costs, although I have presented ways we can achieve these changes in a fiscally responsible way. I believe in PAYGO. If I start a new program I will pay for it. If I intend to cut taxes for the middle class, then we're going to close some of the tax loopholes for corporations and the wealthy that are not working for shared prosperity.
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So we're going to have fiscal discipline. I know that we'll have to overcome our doubts and divisions and the determined opposition of powerful special interests before we can truly advance opportunity and prosperity for all Americans. But I would not be running for president if I did not think that this was a defining moment in our history.
If we fail to overcome our divisions and continue to let special interests set the agenda, then America will fall behind, short-term gains will continue to yield long-term costs, opportunity will slip away on Main Street, and prosperity will suffer here on Wall Street.
But if we unite this country around a common purpose, if we act on the responsibilities that we have to each other and to our country, then we can launch a new era of opportunity and prosperity.
I know we can do this because Americans have done this before. Time and again we've recognized that common stake that we have in each other's success. It's how people as different as Hamilton and Jefferson came together to launch the world's greatest experiment in democracy. That's why our economy hasn't just been the world's greatest wealth creator, it's bound America together, it's created jobs and it's made the dream of opportunity a reality for generations.
Now it falls to us. We have as our inheritance the greatest economy the world has ever known. We have the responsibility to continue the work that began on that spring day over two centuries ago right here in Manhattan, to renew our common purpose for a new century and to write the next chapter in the story of America's success.
We can do this, and we can begin this work today.
Thank you very much.
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END
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