In a speech at the University of Illinois-Urbana this afternoon, former President Barack Obama delivered a "State of Our Democracy" speech that hit all of the pathologies and sicknesses of the Rethuglican / New Confederate / Trumpist Party. From sociopathic con man Donald "Rump" Trump's position as a symptom of the sickness to a rousing call for people to register and vote, Obama was on his game after months of criticism for his absence from the political scene. Some brief, random excerpts:
"Because in the end, the threat to our democracy doesn't just come from Donald Trump or the current batch of Republicans in Congress or the Koch brothers and their lobbyists or too much compromise from Democrats or Russian hacking. The biggest threat to our democracy is indifference. The biggest threat to our democracy is cynicism."
"We're supposed to stand up to discrimination, and we're sure as heck supposed to stand up clearly and unequivocally to Nazi sympathizers. How hard can that be, saying that Nazis are bad?"
"...Over the past few decades, the politics of division and resentment and paranoia has unfortunately found a home in the Republican party."
"This is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us, as citizens of the United States, need to determine just who it is that we are. Just what it is that we stand for."
He's on to California and other venues for the next 2 months, bolstering Dems for the mid-terms and pushing get-out-the-vote efforts. Now, if we can get Michelle campaigning as much as possible...."The stakes really are higher. The consequences of any of us sitting on the sidelines are more dire."
