lincoln Archives - Where Is The Outrage?

Repealing DADT is close

I didn’t think that we were going to get this close. The House has passed a stand alone Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell bill. Here is Rep. John Lewis on the floor of the House urging repeal.

From TPM:

Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME) pledged her support for the standalone bill to repeal the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy this afternoon. Cloture to pass a repeal as part of the defense authorization failed by a mere 3 votes last week.

Snowe was among several theoretical supporters of repeal who said she voted against cloture because of procedural issues: Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) objected to the time allotted to debate the underlying bill; and Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said that the timing for repeal was, in his view, not quite right.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) said, on the other hand, that she’d missed the vote because of a dental appointment. So, with Snowe’s support, repeal supporters are within 1 vote of cloture — and a repeal of DADT.

The House passed its own version of the DADT repeal bill early this evening.

By ecthompsonmd|2010-12-15T21:10:51-04:00December 15th, 2010|Military|Comments Off

The country’s top musical stars joined masses of ordinary Americans on the National Mall today to serenade President-elect Barack Obama, offering up an emotional and patriotic tribute to open the inaugural festivities for the nation’s first African American chief executive.

Onstage in front of the Lincoln Memorial, with sharpshooters clearly visible atop the marble roof, Obama told the gathered crowd that the optimism that fueled his historic campaign has not waned in the face of military and political challenges from abroad and an unprecedented economic crisis.

“What gives me the greatest hope of all is not the stone and marble that surrounds us today, but what fills the spaces in between,” Obama said. “It is you, Americans of every race and region and station who came here because you believe in what this country can be and because you want to help us get there. . . . (more… )

By ecthompsonmd|2009-01-18T20:18:16-04:00January 18th, 2009|Domestic Issues|Comments Off

Barack Obama's acceptance speech

The expectations. Managing the expectations. This was almost an impossible task. Some of the political pundits had set the bar so high Barack Obama needed to build a rocket ship, fly to the moon, land safely, and fly back again all while singing God bless America out of his belly button.

I’m sure that the Barack Obama camp, like myself, were somewhat confused at what he really needed to accomplish with his speech. I knew exactly what Sen. Hillary Clinton need to accomplish with her speech. I also knew exactly what former president Bill Clinton needed to achieve with his speech. Obama speech was altogether different. He needs to rally the troops so that they would be inspired to stuff envelopes and knock on doors and made hundreds of calls to get him elected. He needed to inspire.

Well, Barack Obama did more than inspire. He decided that he would also discuss policy. He would lay out a plan, a vision for America. He also was able to contrast his vision with that John McCain’s and the Republican party. And finally on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s famous I Have a Dream Speech, Barack Obama was able to tie his vision of looking forward towards the future to that of Martin Luther King’s so many years ago, where he also looked towards the horizon of hope and compassion. Obama gave a remarkable speech. Pat Buchanan said it was the best acceptance speech he had ever seen. (I really hate quoting Pat Buchanan.)

A portion of Barack Obama’s speech:

This country of ours has more wealth than any nation, but that’s not what makes us rich. We have the most powerful military on Earth, but that’s not what makes us strong. Our universities and our culture are the envy of the world, but that’s not what keeps the world coming to our shores.

Instead, it is that American spirit – that American promise – that pushes us forward even when the path is uncertain; that binds us together in spite of our differences; that makes us fix our eye not on what is seen, but what is unseen, that better place around the bend.

That promise is our greatest inheritance. It’s a promise I make to my daughters when I tuck them in at night, and a promise that you make to yours – a promise that has led immigrants to cross oceans and pioneers to travel west; a promise that led workers to picket lines, and women to reach for the ballot.

And it is that promise that forty five years ago today, brought Americans from every corner of this land to stand together on a Mall in Washington, before Lincoln’s Memorial, and hear a young preacher from Georgia speak of his dream.