An American President“For the last couple of months Senator Rumson has suggested that being President of this country was to a certain extent about character. Although I have not been willing to engage in his attacks on me, I have been here 3 years and 3 days, and I can tell you without hesitation: Being President of this country is entirely about character. “For the record: Yes, I am a card carrying member of the ACLU. But the more important question is: Why aren’t you Bob. “Now this is an organization whose sole purpose is to defend the Bill of Rights. So it naturally begs the question: Why would a Senator, his party’s most powerful spokesman and a candidate for President, choose to reject upholding the Constitution? Now if you can answer that question folks then you’re smarter than I am because I didn’t understand it until a few hours ago. “America isn’t easy! America is advanced citizenship. You have to want it bad, because it’s going to put up a fight. It’s going to say: You want free speech, let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil; whose standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you have spent a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. “You want to claim that this land is the land of the free, then the symbol of your country cannot just be a flag. The symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Now show me that, defend that and celebrate that in your classrooms. Then you can stand up and sing about the land of the free. “I’ve known Bob Rumson for years and I’ve been operating under the assumption that the reason Bob devotes so much time and energy shouting at the rain was that he simply didn’t get it. Well I was wrong. Bob’s problem isn’t that he doesn’t get it. Bob’s problem is that he can’t sell it. “We have serious problems to solve and we need serious people to solve them. Whatever your particular problem is, I promise you, Bob Rumson isn’t the least bit interested in solving it. He is interested in two things and two things only: Making you afraid of it and telling you who to blame for it. That ladies and gentlemen is how you win elections. “You gather a group of middle-aged, middle class, middle income voters who remember with longing the easier times, and you talk to them about family and American values and character. And you wave an old photo of the President’s girlfriend and you scream at them about patriotism and tell them she’s the blame for their lot in life. “You go on television and call her a whore. Sidney Ellen Wade has done nothing to you, Bob. She has done nothing but put herself through school, represent the interests of public schools and lobby for the safety of our natural resources. You want a character debate Bob, then you better stick with me because Sidney Ellen Wade is way out of your league. “I’ve loved two women in my life. I lost one to cancer and I lost the other because I was so busy doing my job, I forgot to do my job. Well that ends right now. “Tomorrow morning the White House is sending a bill to Congress for its consideration. It is White House Resolution 455, an energy bill requiring a 20% reduction in the emission of fossil fuels over the next 10 years. It is by far the most aggressive stride ever taken in the fight to reverse the effect of global warming. “The other piece of legislation is the crime bill. As of today, it no longer exists. I’m throwing it out. I’m throwing it out and writing a law that makes sense. You cannot address crime prevention without getting rid of assault weapons and handguns. I consider them a threat to national security and I will go door to door if I have to. But I’m going to convince Americans that I’m right and I’m going to get the guns. “We’ve got serious problems and we need serious people to solve them. If you want to talk about character Bob, then you better come at me with more than a burning flag and a membership card. If you want to talk about character and American values, fine. Just tell me where and when and I’ll show up. This is a time for serious people Bob, and your 15 minutes are up. My name is Andrew Shepherd and I am the President.” |