Reclaiming the American Dream

Written by: Jennie Lorain on Jul 4, 2006 2:11 PM EDT

On July 4, 2006, revisiting a speech candidate Howard Dean gave at Georgetown University nearly three years ago, I realize that the current state of our nation has not changed much since the day he spoke those words. But in those hopeful times, working with Howard Dean to "take our country back", the thought that Bush could actually win second term seemed unlikely.

Yet, running a campaign based on "fear, smear, and queers", somehow Bush did. (Diebold may have helped a bit too.)

But even though I can't help feeling a bit wistful thinking of "what might have been", these words still give me hope and inspiration, and remind me of what our country *could* be. I hope they do the same for you.

http://tinyurl.com/ope82

Our founders built America on the principle that power should rest in the hands of the people. Political power and economic power. Our system of free enterprise has always upheld the notion that the interests of the people should never be subservient to those of the privileged few. That the democratic power of the people should never be subservient to the power of capital.

Our nation's economic strength has rested on a healthy partnership between the public and private sectors and on everyone having the fair chance to compete. But when the balance of power in Washington shifts and private interests control the common good -- American capitalism has been betrayed.
....
The Bush presidency is the realization of our founding fathers' fear -- that one day economic power would seize political power. Enron epitomizes this fear, corporate power run amok. The executives at Enron misled the public and their employees to line their pockets with millions of dollars while employees lost their jobs, lost their health insurance and lost their pensions.
....
America is an extraordinary country. It is a place where we have all been raised to believe that through hard work, every one of us could build a better life for ourselves and our families. That is the American Dream.
....
America is an extraordinary country. It is a place where we have all been raised to believe that through hard work, every one of us could build a better life for ourselves and our families. That is the American Dream.
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Sadly, we're not doing that with Howard Dean as our president. But we're still dedicated to those principles. Dean on!

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