My train buddies say not to sweat the small stuff like the NYC fly over by the Obama camp. This was not just an unfortunate choice--it was one of the most boneheaded moves of an administration that should be #1 SAVING MONEY and #2 CARING FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT. But worst is #3. The fact that Louis Caldera was the one who allegedly planned this. Interesting that the press release by the Obama administration leaves off his work at IndyMac Bank.
Any why is that exactly?
I mean, here is a guy whose administration is supposed to be so tech savvy. Hasn't anyone heard of Photoshop?
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
17 Again
Well, I haven't seen the latest Zach Effron movie but I do feel a bit like I lived it this weekend. I went to the memorial of Moky--the mother of my bff from high school.
I walked up the sidewalk to the imposing facade of a house circa 1902 or so. So many memories swept over me, like long lost friends I hadn't seen in forever. I couldn't believe the echos of kids laughter, until I saw two young tow headed girls sitting out on the sunny veranda at a table laden with new azalea blooms, eating pistachio nuts and sharing secrets. A little shy boy was walking swiftly toward me away from a large bumble bee.
I stared. The two girls strongly resembled the two mothers, sisters who had grown up in that house. One was almost the age at which I met her mother. The boy was not unlike his uncle who greeted me warmly at the front door with the most beautiful little baby in his arms. The baby has the face of an old soul, perfectly formed--not a mushy pudgy baby face. I thought that was fitting somehow. Maybe since his grandmother waited until his birth before letting go of her long journey away from her life. I was shocked he remembered me, to be honest. Mostly because I knew his older sister and in the self involved way of older sister's friends who were teenagers, I hadn't paid much attention to him all those years ago.
He called out to his sister S and I guess I expected the long blond streaming hair down to her waist and a petite little girl to emerge from the shadows at the top of the beautiful mahogany staircase. By the time she reached the newel post, she had morphed into a beautiful adult woman before my eyes.
Magpie was next and she and I had a laugh about how surprised I was to walk back into the house, which had not changed. It was like walking backwards through time because all the decorations were the same and I swear even the carpeting was the same camel color--and immaculate. Everything was so well cared for and I think the classical music playing may have been from a ....record. I admit I peeked around the house for glimpses of my memories.
The one room completely changed was her bedroom. That left me wistful for the pale green walls and pegboard covered with interesting things. How we laid across her bed and embroidered or patched our jeans and talked about boys, chess club (!) and college applications. How we smelled of Love's Baby Soft Lemon (?) and Lipsmacker lip gloss. And how we wore those ridiculous quiana shirts. (For those of you too young to know better--it was a fancy word for polyester). I am quite sure that Magpie wore an oxford button down and boat shoes or "Topsiders". She wasn't quite preppy--she actually sailed. She loved classical music and was one of my few friends not listening to awful 70s music.
Though it was a memorial, laughter and the hum of a larger crowd rose through the old lady (I guess I think of their home as maternal--owing to Moky) and reminded me of all the Christmases I remembered there. I will never eat a Diamond Smokehouse Almond without thinking of her. Or pass a gingerbread house without thinking of those days.
Also in attendance were the most incredible women, many of whom happen to be graduates of Smith College. All of whom were at the top of their game--then and now. They went to one of the most elite schools of the time--the "Daisy Chain" to the Ivy League. Many of whom were mothers of high school acquaintances. My mother went to Smith too, as did my Aunt. One of them, now in her 80s had just played golf the day before. These are women who didn't/couldn't let time stand in their way. It is so sad that Moky didn't have the choice. It was interesting to step back in time and also fast forward to what is today.
It was a beautiful afternoon, full of friendship and memories. The neighbors walked in to honor her and friends came from far away. I really believe it was such a wonderful thing to give people the chance to congregate and remember her. Many of them thanked the children for the opportunity--and I know why.
Moky gave a lot of people a "home" to come to at the holidays. She raised a family that will hang together for future generations and neighbors and a community who admired her qualities. I like to think she would have gotten a kick out of the memorial.
Touching, heartfelt words were said from neighbors and friends, unprompted and unplanned. It was genuine. I watched from the periphery, as it was years ago. I was her daughter's friend, and honestly, I am not sure she approved of me and certainly not of my politics! Though I suspect that like me, she had a healthy respect for people who spent the time to know things, who bothered to know about current events, to have principles--even if you must agree to disagree. We probably agreed on more than she would ever know...
Time marches by but we all need a chance to remember the past, to celebrate it, to wonder at it....and to be 17 again.
I walked up the sidewalk to the imposing facade of a house circa 1902 or so. So many memories swept over me, like long lost friends I hadn't seen in forever. I couldn't believe the echos of kids laughter, until I saw two young tow headed girls sitting out on the sunny veranda at a table laden with new azalea blooms, eating pistachio nuts and sharing secrets. A little shy boy was walking swiftly toward me away from a large bumble bee.
I stared. The two girls strongly resembled the two mothers, sisters who had grown up in that house. One was almost the age at which I met her mother. The boy was not unlike his uncle who greeted me warmly at the front door with the most beautiful little baby in his arms. The baby has the face of an old soul, perfectly formed--not a mushy pudgy baby face. I thought that was fitting somehow. Maybe since his grandmother waited until his birth before letting go of her long journey away from her life. I was shocked he remembered me, to be honest. Mostly because I knew his older sister and in the self involved way of older sister's friends who were teenagers, I hadn't paid much attention to him all those years ago.
He called out to his sister S and I guess I expected the long blond streaming hair down to her waist and a petite little girl to emerge from the shadows at the top of the beautiful mahogany staircase. By the time she reached the newel post, she had morphed into a beautiful adult woman before my eyes.
Magpie was next and she and I had a laugh about how surprised I was to walk back into the house, which had not changed. It was like walking backwards through time because all the decorations were the same and I swear even the carpeting was the same camel color--and immaculate. Everything was so well cared for and I think the classical music playing may have been from a ....record. I admit I peeked around the house for glimpses of my memories.
The one room completely changed was her bedroom. That left me wistful for the pale green walls and pegboard covered with interesting things. How we laid across her bed and embroidered or patched our jeans and talked about boys, chess club (!) and college applications. How we smelled of Love's Baby Soft Lemon (?) and Lipsmacker lip gloss. And how we wore those ridiculous quiana shirts. (For those of you too young to know better--it was a fancy word for polyester). I am quite sure that Magpie wore an oxford button down and boat shoes or "Topsiders". She wasn't quite preppy--she actually sailed. She loved classical music and was one of my few friends not listening to awful 70s music.
Though it was a memorial, laughter and the hum of a larger crowd rose through the old lady (I guess I think of their home as maternal--owing to Moky) and reminded me of all the Christmases I remembered there. I will never eat a Diamond Smokehouse Almond without thinking of her. Or pass a gingerbread house without thinking of those days.
Also in attendance were the most incredible women, many of whom happen to be graduates of Smith College. All of whom were at the top of their game--then and now. They went to one of the most elite schools of the time--the "Daisy Chain" to the Ivy League. Many of whom were mothers of high school acquaintances. My mother went to Smith too, as did my Aunt. One of them, now in her 80s had just played golf the day before. These are women who didn't/couldn't let time stand in their way. It is so sad that Moky didn't have the choice. It was interesting to step back in time and also fast forward to what is today.
It was a beautiful afternoon, full of friendship and memories. The neighbors walked in to honor her and friends came from far away. I really believe it was such a wonderful thing to give people the chance to congregate and remember her. Many of them thanked the children for the opportunity--and I know why.
Moky gave a lot of people a "home" to come to at the holidays. She raised a family that will hang together for future generations and neighbors and a community who admired her qualities. I like to think she would have gotten a kick out of the memorial.
Touching, heartfelt words were said from neighbors and friends, unprompted and unplanned. It was genuine. I watched from the periphery, as it was years ago. I was her daughter's friend, and honestly, I am not sure she approved of me and certainly not of my politics! Though I suspect that like me, she had a healthy respect for people who spent the time to know things, who bothered to know about current events, to have principles--even if you must agree to disagree. We probably agreed on more than she would ever know...
Time marches by but we all need a chance to remember the past, to celebrate it, to wonder at it....and to be 17 again.
Friday, April 3, 2009
20 years ago there were 1000 points of light
In 1989 I started our business. Now I wonder if it will survive these turbulent times. I worry for my employees, for my family and for my country. It seems sometimes like nothing will ever be the same. I think about the 80s. Were we aware that it wasn't all about money? when and how did things change? Did loving capitalism and loving free markets and freedom mean we forgot the basics? I don't think so.
And then I remember, this is still my country. There are still people who believe that we should say God Bless America. After Ronald Reagan, after the crazy Carter years, after all of this was a speech I will remember. It made me feel better today to read it again.
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Quayle, Senator Mitchell, Speaker Wright, Senator Dole, Congressman Michel, and fellow citizens, neighbors, and friends:
There is a man here who has earned a lasting place in our hearts and in our history. President Reagan, on behalf of our Nation, I thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for America. 1
I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his. It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country. And he would, I think, be gladdened by this day; for today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began. 2
We meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended. 3
And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads: 4
Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: "Use power to help people." For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it, Lord. Amen. 5
I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken. There are times when the future seems thick as a fog; you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right path. But this is a time when the future seems a door you can walk right through into a room called tomorrow. 6
Great nations of the world are moving toward democracy through the door to freedom. Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity. The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows. 7
We know what works: Freedom works. We know what's right: Freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections, and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state. 8
For the first time in this century, for the first time in perhaps all history, man does not have to invent a system by which to live. We don't have to talk late into the night about which form of government is better. We don't have to wrest justice from the kings. We only have to summon it from within ourselves. We must act on what we know. I take as my guide the hope of a saint: In crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity. 9
America today is a proud, free nation, decent and civil, a place we cannot help but love. We know in our hearts, not loudly and proudly, but as a simple fact, that this country has meaning beyond what we see, and that our strength is a force for good. But have we changed as a nation even in our time? Are we enthralled with material things, less appreciative of the nobility of work and sacrifice? 10
My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it. What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship? 11
No President, no government, can teach us to remember what is best in what we are. But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference; if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls; if he can do these things, then he must. 12
America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do. There are the homeless, lost and roaming. There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy. There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction—drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums. There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets. There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life. 13
The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems. But we have learned that is not so. And in any case, our funds are low. We have a deficit to bring down. We have more will than wallet; but will is what we need. We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety. And then we will do the wisest thing of all: We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows—the goodness and the courage of the American people. 14
I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands-on and involved, that gets the job done. We must bring in the generations, harnessing the unused talent of the elderly and the unfocused energy of the young. For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation, but so is stewardship. And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age. 15
I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in. 16
We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress. The challenges before us will be thrashed out with the House and the Senate. We must bring the Federal budget into balance. And we must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace, and fiscally sound. But, of course, things may be difficult. We need compromise; we have had dissension. We need harmony; we have had a chorus of discordant voices. 17
For Congress, too, has changed in our time. There has grown a certain divisiveness. We have seen the hard looks and heard the statements in which not each other's ideas are challenged, but each other's motives. And our great parties have too often been far apart and untrusting of each other. It has been this way since Vietnam. That war cleaves us still. But, friends, that war began in earnest a quarter of a century ago; and surely the statute of limitations has been reached. This is a fact: The final lesson of Vietnam is that no great nation can long afford to be sundered by a memory. A new breeze is blowing, and the old bipartisanship must be made new again. 18
To my friends—and yes, I do mean friends—in the loyal opposition—and yes, I mean loyal: I put out my hand. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Speaker. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Majority Leader. For this is the thing: This is the age of the offered hand. We can't turn back clocks, and I don't want to. But when our fathers were young, Mr. Speaker, our differences ended at the water's edge. And we don't wish to turn back time, but when our mothers were young, Mr. Majority Leader, the Congress and the Executive were capable of working together to produce a budget on which this nation could live. Let us negotiate soon and hard. But in the end, let us produce. The American people await action. They didn't send us here to bicker. They ask us to rise above the merely partisan. "In crucial things, unity"—and this, my friends, is crucial. 19
To the world, too, we offer new engagement and a renewed vow: We will stay strong to protect the peace. The "offered hand" is a reluctant fist; but once made, strong, and can be used with great effect. There are today Americans who are held against their will in foreign lands, and Americans who are unaccounted for. Assistance can be shown here, and will be long remembered. Good will begets good will. Good faith can be a spiral that endlessly moves on. 20
Great nations like great men must keep their word. When America says something, America means it, whether a treaty or an agreement or a vow made on marble steps. We will always try to speak clearly, for candor is a compliment, but subtlety, too, is good and has its place. While keeping our alliances and friendships around the world strong, ever strong, we will continue the new closeness with the Soviet Union, consistent both with our security and with progress. One might say that our new relationship in part reflects the triumph of hope and strength over experience. But hope is good, and so are strength and vigilance. 21
Here today are tens of thousands of our citizens who feel the understandable satisfaction of those who have taken part in democracy and seen their hopes fulfilled. But my thoughts have been turning the past few days to those who would be watching at home, to an older fellow who will throw a salute by himself when the flag goes by, and the women who will tell her sons the words of the battle hymns. I don't mean this to be sentimental. I mean that on days like this, we remember that we are all part of a continuum, inescapably connected by the ties that bind. 22
Our children are watching in schools throughout our great land. And to them I say, thank you for watching democracy's big day. For democracy belongs to us all, and freedom is like a beautiful kite that can go higher and higher with the breeze. And to all I say: No matter what your circumstances or where you are, you are part of this day, you are part of the life of our great nation. 23
A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don't seek a window on men's souls. In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life. 24
There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs. And when that first cocaine was smuggled in on a ship, it may as well have been a deadly bacteria, so much has it hurt the body, the soul of our country. And there is much to be done and to be said, but take my word for it: This scourge will stop. 25
And so, there is much to do; and tomorrow the work begins. I do not mistrust the future; I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless. 26
Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds. And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity—shared, and written, together. 27
Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. 28
And then I remember, this is still my country. There are still people who believe that we should say God Bless America. After Ronald Reagan, after the crazy Carter years, after all of this was a speech I will remember. It made me feel better today to read it again.
Mr. Chief Justice, Mr. President, Vice President Quayle, Senator Mitchell, Speaker Wright, Senator Dole, Congressman Michel, and fellow citizens, neighbors, and friends:
There is a man here who has earned a lasting place in our hearts and in our history. President Reagan, on behalf of our Nation, I thank you for the wonderful things that you have done for America. 1
I have just repeated word for word the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I placed my hand is the Bible on which he placed his. It is right that the memory of Washington be with us today, not only because this is our Bicentennial Inauguration, but because Washington remains the Father of our Country. And he would, I think, be gladdened by this day; for today is the concrete expression of a stunning fact: our continuity these 200 years since our government began. 2
We meet on democracy's front porch, a good place to talk as neighbors and as friends. For this is a day when our nation is made whole, when our differences, for a moment, are suspended. 3
And my first act as President is a prayer. I ask you to bow your heads: 4
Heavenly Father, we bow our heads and thank You for Your love. Accept our thanks for the peace that yields this day and the shared faith that makes its continuance likely. Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and write on our hearts these words: "Use power to help people." For we are given power not to advance our own purposes, nor to make a great show in the world, nor a name. There is but one just use of power, and it is to serve people. Help us to remember it, Lord. Amen. 5
I come before you and assume the Presidency at a moment rich with promise. We live in a peaceful, prosperous time, but we can make it better. For a new breeze is blowing, and a world refreshed by freedom seems reborn; for in man's heart, if not in fact, the day of the dictator is over. The totalitarian era is passing, its old ideas blown away like leaves from an ancient, lifeless tree. A new breeze is blowing, and a nation refreshed by freedom stands ready to push on. There is new ground to be broken, and new action to be taken. There are times when the future seems thick as a fog; you sit and wait, hoping the mists will lift and reveal the right path. But this is a time when the future seems a door you can walk right through into a room called tomorrow. 6
Great nations of the world are moving toward democracy through the door to freedom. Men and women of the world move toward free markets through the door to prosperity. The people of the world agitate for free expression and free thought through the door to the moral and intellectual satisfactions that only liberty allows. 7
We know what works: Freedom works. We know what's right: Freedom is right. We know how to secure a more just and prosperous life for man on Earth: through free markets, free speech, free elections, and the exercise of free will unhampered by the state. 8
For the first time in this century, for the first time in perhaps all history, man does not have to invent a system by which to live. We don't have to talk late into the night about which form of government is better. We don't have to wrest justice from the kings. We only have to summon it from within ourselves. We must act on what we know. I take as my guide the hope of a saint: In crucial things, unity; in important things, diversity; in all things, generosity. 9
America today is a proud, free nation, decent and civil, a place we cannot help but love. We know in our hearts, not loudly and proudly, but as a simple fact, that this country has meaning beyond what we see, and that our strength is a force for good. But have we changed as a nation even in our time? Are we enthralled with material things, less appreciative of the nobility of work and sacrifice? 10
My friends, we are not the sum of our possessions. They are not the measure of our lives. In our hearts we know what matters. We cannot hope only to leave our children a bigger car, a bigger bank account. We must hope to give them a sense of what it means to be a loyal friend, a loving parent, a citizen who leaves his home, his neighborhood and town better than he found it. What do we want the men and women who work with us to say when we are no longer there? That we were more driven to succeed than anyone around us? Or that we stopped to ask if a sick child had gotten better, and stayed a moment there to trade a word of friendship? 11
No President, no government, can teach us to remember what is best in what we are. But if the man you have chosen to lead this government can help make a difference; if he can celebrate the quieter, deeper successes that are made not of gold and silk, but of better hearts and finer souls; if he can do these things, then he must. 12
America is never wholly herself unless she is engaged in high moral principle. We as a people have such a purpose today. It is to make kinder the face of the Nation and gentler the face of the world. My friends, we have work to do. There are the homeless, lost and roaming. There are the children who have nothing, no love, no normalcy. There are those who cannot free themselves of enslavement to whatever addiction—drugs, welfare, the demoralization that rules the slums. There is crime to be conquered, the rough crime of the streets. There are young women to be helped who are about to become mothers of children they can't care for and might not love. They need our care, our guidance, and our education, though we bless them for choosing life. 13
The old solution, the old way, was to think that public money alone could end these problems. But we have learned that is not so. And in any case, our funds are low. We have a deficit to bring down. We have more will than wallet; but will is what we need. We will make the hard choices, looking at what we have and perhaps allocating it differently, making our decisions based on honest need and prudent safety. And then we will do the wisest thing of all: We will turn to the only resource we have that in times of need always grows—the goodness and the courage of the American people. 14
I am speaking of a new engagement in the lives of others, a new activism, hands-on and involved, that gets the job done. We must bring in the generations, harnessing the unused talent of the elderly and the unfocused energy of the young. For not only leadership is passed from generation to generation, but so is stewardship. And the generation born after the Second World War has come of age. 15
I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the Nation, doing good. We will work hand in hand, encouraging, sometimes leading, sometimes being led, rewarding. We will work on this in the White House, in the Cabinet agencies. I will go to the people and the programs that are the brighter points of light, and I will ask every member of my government to become involved. The old ideas are new again because they are not old, they are timeless: duty, sacrifice, commitment, and a patriotism that finds its expression in taking part and pitching in. 16
We need a new engagement, too, between the Executive and the Congress. The challenges before us will be thrashed out with the House and the Senate. We must bring the Federal budget into balance. And we must ensure that America stands before the world united, strong, at peace, and fiscally sound. But, of course, things may be difficult. We need compromise; we have had dissension. We need harmony; we have had a chorus of discordant voices. 17
For Congress, too, has changed in our time. There has grown a certain divisiveness. We have seen the hard looks and heard the statements in which not each other's ideas are challenged, but each other's motives. And our great parties have too often been far apart and untrusting of each other. It has been this way since Vietnam. That war cleaves us still. But, friends, that war began in earnest a quarter of a century ago; and surely the statute of limitations has been reached. This is a fact: The final lesson of Vietnam is that no great nation can long afford to be sundered by a memory. A new breeze is blowing, and the old bipartisanship must be made new again. 18
To my friends—and yes, I do mean friends—in the loyal opposition—and yes, I mean loyal: I put out my hand. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Speaker. I am putting out my hand to you, Mr. Majority Leader. For this is the thing: This is the age of the offered hand. We can't turn back clocks, and I don't want to. But when our fathers were young, Mr. Speaker, our differences ended at the water's edge. And we don't wish to turn back time, but when our mothers were young, Mr. Majority Leader, the Congress and the Executive were capable of working together to produce a budget on which this nation could live. Let us negotiate soon and hard. But in the end, let us produce. The American people await action. They didn't send us here to bicker. They ask us to rise above the merely partisan. "In crucial things, unity"—and this, my friends, is crucial. 19
To the world, too, we offer new engagement and a renewed vow: We will stay strong to protect the peace. The "offered hand" is a reluctant fist; but once made, strong, and can be used with great effect. There are today Americans who are held against their will in foreign lands, and Americans who are unaccounted for. Assistance can be shown here, and will be long remembered. Good will begets good will. Good faith can be a spiral that endlessly moves on. 20
Great nations like great men must keep their word. When America says something, America means it, whether a treaty or an agreement or a vow made on marble steps. We will always try to speak clearly, for candor is a compliment, but subtlety, too, is good and has its place. While keeping our alliances and friendships around the world strong, ever strong, we will continue the new closeness with the Soviet Union, consistent both with our security and with progress. One might say that our new relationship in part reflects the triumph of hope and strength over experience. But hope is good, and so are strength and vigilance. 21
Here today are tens of thousands of our citizens who feel the understandable satisfaction of those who have taken part in democracy and seen their hopes fulfilled. But my thoughts have been turning the past few days to those who would be watching at home, to an older fellow who will throw a salute by himself when the flag goes by, and the women who will tell her sons the words of the battle hymns. I don't mean this to be sentimental. I mean that on days like this, we remember that we are all part of a continuum, inescapably connected by the ties that bind. 22
Our children are watching in schools throughout our great land. And to them I say, thank you for watching democracy's big day. For democracy belongs to us all, and freedom is like a beautiful kite that can go higher and higher with the breeze. And to all I say: No matter what your circumstances or where you are, you are part of this day, you are part of the life of our great nation. 23
A President is neither prince nor pope, and I don't seek a window on men's souls. In fact, I yearn for a greater tolerance, an easy-goingness about each other's attitudes and way of life. 24
There are few clear areas in which we as a society must rise up united and express our intolerance. The most obvious now is drugs. And when that first cocaine was smuggled in on a ship, it may as well have been a deadly bacteria, so much has it hurt the body, the soul of our country. And there is much to be done and to be said, but take my word for it: This scourge will stop. 25
And so, there is much to do; and tomorrow the work begins. I do not mistrust the future; I do not fear what is ahead. For our problems are large, but our heart is larger. Our challenges are great, but our will is greater. And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless. 26
Some see leadership as high drama, and the sound of trumpets calling, and sometimes it is that. But I see history as a book with many pages, and each day we fill a page with acts of hopefulness and meaning. The new breeze blows, a page turns, the story unfolds. And so today a chapter begins, a small and stately story of unity, diversity, and generosity—shared, and written, together. 27
Thank you. God bless you and God bless the United States of America. 28
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