ClarkCast 014 - Keynote: Texas Democratic Party Convention

Keynote: Texas Democratic Party Convention
General Wesley K Clark
June 9, 2006
Introduction by Texas Representative Richard Raymond (HD-42, Laredo)
Transcription by Melange

Texas Democratic Party Chair Boyd L. Richie

At this time I would ask you to please welcome a wonderful Democrat and a good friend to the party, State Representative Richard Raymond. <applause>

Texas State Representative Richard Raymond:

Thank you. During the summer of 2003, there were many of us in Texas and around the country who began a Draft movement supporting General Wesley Clark for President. We did it because General Clark is a real war hero, a real visionary, a real moral man, a real man of faith, and a real leader. To our great excitement, General Clark entered the race but to our great disappointment, he wasn’t elected - that time.

Today, I can’t help but think of how different things would be in America and all over the world if General Clark had been elected president. Those of us Democrats who supported General Clark, and indeed all Texas Democrats, tried to warn America what would happen if George Bush were elected president. Indeed today 70% of the polled, 70% of Americans now know what we knew about George Bush. <applause> Sometimes, sometimes you just hate to be proven right.

After the Democratic primaries of 2004, General Clark didn’t stop campaigning. He continued to help the national Democratic ticket and Democrats all over this country and he continues to help us today. Fellow Democrats, fellow Democrats I want us to remember him in the future…and if we were to go back to the future for just a moment when many of us in this hall campaigned for General Clark because we knew he would make a great president. We could see how different things would be.

My friends, if we had President Wesley Clark, I know the War on Terror would have been more successful than it’s been and <applause> and the courage of our men and women in Iraq would not have been squandered. Our National Guard would not be stretched so thin that its morale…that it is destroying morale. We would not be $2 trillion in debt today, only 6 years after President Bill Clinton left us with a surplus of more than $300 billion. <applause> We Democrats in Texas had it right. President Clark would not have driven America’s reputation into the ground and President Clark would not have Americans so anxious and so worried about the future. We would not have to be as worried about the future as we are today because ‘National Security’ is his middle name. We would not have to be worried because the defense and the protection of this country is in his genes. And we would not have to be worried because his love for America and our Constitution beats in his heart. <applause>

And so here we are, gathered in convention knowing we were right and knowing we must do what we can to turn this thing around. And by the way, getting rid of Tom DeLay’s a pretty good start. <applause> I’m glad General Clark is here because he is as he was in 2002 – the kind of man who can help lead the Democratic party and help lead the effort to make the country a great country for all Americans, not just some but for every single American. <applause> We Texas Democrats, we Texas Democrats should be proud that we were right and we should be proud, ready and able to listen to and follow a man who can lead us into the future we know we want and that America deserves. My friends, my fellow Democrats, please help me welcome General Wesley K. Clark. <applause>

GENERAL WESLEY CLARK: Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you so much. Thank you so much my friends for that warm welcome. Richard, thank you very much for that kind introduction. Chairman Richie, Speaker Laney, future Governor Chris Bell <applause>, future Senator Barbara Radnofsky <applause>, distinguished Senators and Representatives and office holders, fellow Democrats from across Texas, it is so great to be here with you in Fort Worth! You are…this is a great Democratic party and I’m proud to be here. <applause>

Now you’re a great group and this party has such great traditions and great roots. You know, going back to heroes of my childhood and when I studied government in school, men like Sam Rayburn, Lyndon Johnson, Lloyd Bentsen - people who were real leaders in this country who had a sense of roots, a sense of heritage, whose sense of compassion and concern for ordinary Americans, who knew that government wasn’t the source of our problems, government was a means of addressing the challenges we faced in our ordinary lives. <applause> That’s what Texas Democrats know and believe. That’s what we stand for.

And of course, Texas Democrats have always had a great tradition of service to their country in time of war. I guess you can say it starts with Sam Houston and the Alamo and [William] Barret Travis and guys from all over this country like Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone. But I think it especially has to be recognized what the men and women from Texas have done in recent times and I’d like to ask all of our veterans here in this group, would you please stand up and let us recognize you? Stand on up there. Can we get a little bit of lights so people can see it? <applause> Look at that, now that’s public service. Thank you and thank you for your service.

And I want you to remember that today in Iraq…well, it’s in the middle of the night in Iraq…and we’ve still got over 130,000 US troops there and almost 20,000 in Afghanistan. We’ve probably got another 20 or 30,000 in Kuwait. We’ve got men and women serving all over this globe. They’re risking their lives, their futures, their families’ happiness and security for us, for America. And I want you to give those men and women who are serving abroad, right now - at this moment, I want you to stand up and give them a round of applause and show that we love them. We do! <applause> Thank you. We love you troops – keep doing a great job for America! We love you and we’re Democrats and we want you to know it. From one side of the globe all the way around to the other, we’re here in Texas thanking you for protecting us.

I’ll tell you, though, when I come back to Texas it does feel like home. You know I lived here. I lived in Killeen, Texas, I was the commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division and I loved it. We had 53 horses in that division and I rode horseback a couple of times a week normally and I had big boots and um, I had a great horse. I jumped and I galloped across Texas and I could do a cavalry charge – at least I did one without falling off that horse. And, um it was a great thrill to live in Texas. We went…came down to Austin, we partied down in Austin often, we went <applause> my wife liked to go shopping in Fort Worth <applause>. We used to sneak away down to Fort Sam and play golf and then go into San Antonio and do the River Walk. And I shot a turkey out near Brownwood. No, it was a real turkey, it wasn’t a Republican, it was a real turkey <laughter>. So when I’m here, it does feel like home except for one thing. We’ve got the wrong people leading this state. That’s the wrong team. <applause> And we’ve got to get rid of ‘em and we’ve got to do it this year! <applause> Now. This is urgent. As we like to say in the Democratic party - this is an urgent problem, there can be no more ‘DeLay’ in addressing it. <applause>

I’m very proud to be an American and I’m very proud to have represented this country in uniform for 34 years. When I served abroad - I served in Vietnam, I served in Panama, I served in Germany and in Belgium, I spent my last 4 years in uniform serving abroad - and I can tell you that this country had the most wonderful reputation. Among our friends we were known as a true ally, someone that could be counted on in time of need. With those who had opposed us, we were respected. We were admired for our efficiency but we were treated with a great deal of…of weariness because they knew the United States was strong and the United States was determined. And among those who were the fence-sitters in the middle, they looked at us, they looked at what we said, our values, and they said ‘that’s a nation that knows what it stands for and acts on it; it’s a nation that supports its friends and reinforces those that it agrees with, it’s opposed to those who oppose its interests and values – that’s America.’

We attracted young people from all over the globe here…here to study our business methodology, to understand our culture, to have a piece of the greatest country in the world. They came here because they admired us. We took action. We stopped aggression across the 38th parallel after World War II in Korea. We fought to contain Communist expansionism in Vietnam and our troops there did a great job. And I’m proud to have served in that conflict and represented the United States of America. <applause> We maintained deterrence during the Cold War. We built great armed forces but we also talked with our adversaries. And we established a climate of…of American leadership that the whole world relied on. We defined an era. We were the power.

And at home, we had incredible economic growth – again and again and again our economy doubled and with the GI Bill and VA home mortgages we brought home ownership to ordinary people. We dramatically improved the access to higher education for millions of Americans. We created new industries – entire new industries, new technologies – we invented the laser and the semiconductor, we created the internet, we developed a global positioning system. We did this. We were the leading economic force in the world and our dollar became the trusted medium of exchange and store of value for the whole world. It was an incredible century of American accomplishment, led in the most crucial times by great Democrats like Franklin Delano Roosevelt <applause>, Harry Truman <applause>, Lyndon Johnson who gave us The Great Society <applause>, Jack Kennedy who gave us our values and our inspiration <applause>, and Bill Clinton <applause> who gave us 22 million jobs and unprecedented prosperity.

So I’m very proud to be an American and I’m very proud of what this country represents. And I look at what more we could be and my heart aches when I see where the Republicans under George W. Bush have taken this country. <applause & boos> I know – you don’t know whether to applaud because I’m right or boo because you don’t like it. <boos> Exactly. The boos have it! Throw ‘em out! Throw ‘em out!

The truth is…the truth is we could be doing so much more. You know, when this administration came into office in January of 2001, they ignored the advice of the people who’d been in office for 8 years. We knew that Osama bin Laden was the principal threat to the United States of America but I guess George Bush thought he knew more than we did and so he just shoved it aside – he and Condi and Dick Cheney and the rest of the crowd. They didn’t want to hear it. Terrorism – that was a Democratic problem and when he was warned in the summer of 2001 that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike the United States, he went on vacation.

Now I can understand wanting to come back to Texas on vacation – it’s a pretty darn nice place down here and I can even understand wanting to chop cedar – I’ve got a little place in western Arkansas and I’ve been looking at all that stuff there and it makes me want to go out and chop every now and then too – but he shouldn’t have done it. It’s what I call ‘command negligence’ because… <applause> I think any reasonable person who was Commander in Chief at the time who had gotten a warning like that would have called the members of the cabinet together and said ‘fellas, ladies, I don’t know what this warning means but this is not happening on my watch – you put your heads together, you’ve got 2 weeks, you come up with an action plan – I want to know what you’re doing in the Justice Department, what the FBI’s doing, what DOD’s doing, what CIA’s doing’ – and he would have been a leader and he might have saved a lot of lives. <applause>

Now why am I going back over ancient history? Because it’s not ancient. Because we went to war in Iraq to cover up the command negligence that contributed to 9/11. <applause> And it was a war we didn’t have to fight. <applause> Thank you. That’s the truth and I hope every Democrat around this country sees you all on your feet acknowledging the reality of the world we’re living in today thanks to the misleadership of this Republican administration. I’ve been in war. I don’t believe in it and you don’t do it unless there’s absolutely, absolutely, absolutely - no alternative. <applause>

And as a result of their determination to go to war without an adequate reason to do so, we alienated our old allies in Europe. A lot of them saw through it – that’s the truth. They did. They just didn’t see a need to do it. And we got ourselves involved in something that our troops are doing magnificently in but you know, when you go after…you’ve taken down his army and you get to Baghdad, it’s no longer just a military problem and this administration keeps trying to dump it on the men and women in uniform. How ‘bout some leadership from Washington in diplomacy and politics and a regional strategy? Why don’t they help our men and women in uniform instead of dumping on ‘em? <applause>

Of course now they’re ratcheting up the pressure on Iran. Look, I testified in Congress in 2002 that if you’re worried about a nation, you ought to stop worrying about Iraq and start worrying about Iran. But why did we have to name them as a member of the Axis of Evil? What kind of policy was that? Why don’t we talk to people first instead of threatening them? <applause> Why don’t we have a regional policy that incorporates the nations in the region’s fears and hopes and concerns? Why can’t we lead instead of just bullying? <applause> I guess because… I guess because they’re Republicans and it’s not in their nature. <laughter>

At home I look at lost potential. You know I campaigned around this country – I went to 30 states in 90 days when I was running for the presidency, I spent most of my time up in New Hampshire and I got to like those people up there. They’re pretty good people and a lot of them came up and talked to me and I got into a lot of people’s homes and looked at how ordinary people are living their lives and you know, we could be so much more. We need to help Americans get the best public education in the world. <applause> I’m all for every American child going to Harvard and we can, I’m sure, expand that institution enough to accommodate everyone who’s interested, but it starts with preschool education. It starts with our parents and our teachers working together. <applause> It starts with some emphasis in the home as well as in the community. <applause> It starts with respecting the men and women who dedicate their lives as teachers and giving them an honest pay and recognition that they need. <applause> We’ve got to rebuild public education in America, ladies and gentlemen. We can’t be the greatest country in the world in the 21st century with 30% of American young people not graduating from high school. We can’t do that, it’s a tragic waste of human potential. And you can pass every fancy-named piece of legislation in the world like No Child Left Behind – sure, we agree with it, it’s Marian Wright Edelman’s name – they took it from us and then they didn’t fund it after they gave states the mandate to do it. And that’s wrong. <applause>

And then you look at the healthcare system. Greatest technology in the world, best doctors, wonderful hospitals and 45 million Americans can’t get access to health insurance? It’s a tragic waste of human potential. And right here in Texas, 350,000 young people have been thrown out of CHIPs program because of the parsimony, the heartlessness, and the recklessness of the Republican leadership in this state and that is wrong. <applause>

I look at what’s happened in the public dialogue, not only the name-calling but the actual misuse of scientific information. The intimidation of scientists – you can’t trust the Food and Drug Administration to give you a straight answer on whether something’s harmful or not – it’s got to pass through a political litmus test first. You can’t trust the information coming out of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or the National Oceanographic Institute because maybe it supports global warming and it’s been decreed there’s no such thing. You know…Americans as a nation, we’re pretty pragmatic people, we conquered a frontier. We started with the steamboat and invented the telephone and the electric light. We invented not only the internet and the laser and all of that stuff, but we invented a modernized, mechanized agriculture. We like to make things and create things in this country and we can’t have our science corrupted because someone doesn’t agree with the conclusions - that’s not America. <applause>

We could be so much more - if only we had the leadership in this country to take us there. Instead we’ve got a leadership in Washington that’s unwise in their policy choices, un-American in their constraints on freedom of speech and in their invasions of privacy, they’re incompetent in their administration of foreign policy and their reaction to disasters, and they’re flat wrong in their prescription for the right way ahead for this country. Enough is enough! <applause> And 2006 is the year. <applause>

OK, but it’s not enough on my speech yet. <laughter> I’ve got to say a little bit more, then we can let ‘em have it, really. Look, how did this happen to our country? You didn’t see it coming, or maybe you did in the 2000 election, but most Americans didn’t. How did it actually happen? You had a man who ran for office claiming he’s a compassionate conservative – he said he didn’t believe in nation-building, he didn’t want to run budget deficits. How did it happen to us? And I think there’s a pretty clear track record here, ladies and gentlemen. It starts by playing on people’s fears, by frightening people, by convincing them that they can’t trust their neighbors – they can’t trust people who don’t go to the same church; they can’t trust people who don’t wear the same clothes. They can’t trust people who don’t have the same expressions on their face or not the same background by reasons of birth or ethnicity or part of the country. It’s about fear and manipulation. About dividing Americans, one from another. About playing one group against another. About taking up money. It goes from the local to the national. I was down here campaigning a few months ago and we began to talk about local Texas politics and you all know it better than I. You know how this legislature was taken over by money injected into a few key legislative districts. How with that then redistricting on the Congressional level came to pass and all that’s come from it. It’s a sad travesty of democracy and we’ve got to fix it and we’ve got to fix it now. <applause> 2006 is our year! Enough is enough!

So look…so here’s what we know, okay? We know who we are as Democrats and we know what Democrats believe. First of all at home, we believe in equal opportunity for every single American regardless of race, color, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender or any other distinguishing or non-distinguishing feature. <applause> We believe every American has a voice. That’s what we stand for. <applause> We believe we’ve got to have a strong economy and that means we’ve got to have a better business environment founded on strong educational systems and strong health systems that help every American live up to his or her full potential. <applause> We believe we have to have a strong national defense and we support the men and women in uniform but we also know that America’s national security is best protected not by building fences around America but by building bridges across differing nations and bringing people together, not tearing them apart. <applause>

We’re Democrats and we’re pretty proud of it. We’ve got some great candidates right here in the state of Texas. You’ve got a great candidate for governor in Chris Bell and we’re going to support him and get him elected. <applause> And we’re going to support Barbara Radnofsky and get her elected in the United States Senate. <applause> And we’re going to work and we’re going to fight in every single election in every single position in every single district in this great state of Texas. We concede nothing! This is a fight for America’s future and it begins here in Texas! <applause>

Now the Republican strategy’s pretty simple in this election. They know that President Bush hasn’t lived up to his billings, or maybe he has. He’s at 32% so they’re going to try to make the campaign in 2006 local. They’re going to tell you the local Republican candidates, they’re really good people, they’re members of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club and they all go to church, usually. And they’re going to try to say ‘you know politics is local, why even Democrats say that,’ well let me tell you ladies and gentlemen – 2006 is not local, it’s national. <applause> The mis-government that’s taken place in this country has local roots because the men and women elected to the majority party in Congress today have failed in their duty to the Constitution of the United States, under the doctrine of separation of powers – they’re a roll-over, do nothing, cover-up Congress and that’s the responsibility of all Americans! <applause>

I’m asking…I’m asking for you to go out and tell the voters in the great State of Texas that it is not local. That it is national and the choices they’re making are choices not only of local school districts and local school boards – they are choices of war and peace and what this country stands for, and our basic liberties and freedoms under the Constitution of the United States of America. That’s what this election in 2006 is all about. <applause>

Now in 1776, there wasn’t a Texas. Just a few years ago as historians go. There were a few people living here but we didn’t even…we hadn’t even bought Louisiana by then and Texas was just a glimmer in somebody’s eye. But the men that signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia on the 4th of July, 1776 - they knew what was at stake with their signatures. They knew that they didn’t support CEO-led government. <applause> Well we had George III – he was the King of England, he was a pretty good CEO. He was an absentee, he hadn’t ever been to the United States, you know, but he had a pretty good board of directors. And Americans rejected it, we did. And the delegates who signed the Declaration of Independence – they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor – that’s how significant they knew their actions were.

Well you’re at the Texas State Democratic Convention of 2006. It’s about 230 years later. We fought several wars; we’ve been through a lot as a nation. We took 13 colonies with 4 million people and became the most important, significant nation in the history of the world. We got to keep it going. We’ve got to live up to our potential. We’ve got to take every American and lift ‘em up. We’ve got to use government as a force for good in the United States of America. We’ve got to live our values abroad. We’ve got to develop the new science, the new technology which will enrich a noble mankind. We’ve got to deal with the problems that face us with 6 billion plus people living on a crowded planet earth. And all of that’s doable. All we have to do is elect the right men and women to office and it starts here in Texas. <applause>

John Hancock – it’s first signature you see when you look at the Declaration of Independence. It’s big and it’s bold and John Hancock was a wealthy man and he pledged his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor. We’re not asking you here tonight to risk your lives; we’re not asking you to give up your sacred honor but I am asking you to do this for the United States of America, for Texas, for our form of government and for our children and grandchildren. I’m going to ask you to reach deep into your back pocket and give money and your fortune to set government in this country on the right course. The time is now, 2006, we need the resources, the values, the candidates to win. We’ve got the values. We’ve got the candidates. We just need your hearts, we need your soul, we need your commitment - we need your money. We put all this together, we’re going to have a winning team. We’re going to let Texas return to its place of honor as a shining beacon for American democracy and Texas be the star that guides the American future. And ladies and gentlemen, it’s up to you. it’s up to you right here in Texas.

Do you believe? Do you really believe that we can do this? <applause>

On your feet, I want to hear it for Chris Bell. I want to hear it for Barbara Radnofsky. I want to hear it for every Democratic candidate in Texas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we can do it. <applause> 2006. Enough is enough. <applause> Give us good government!

President Bush…President Bush, I hope you hear this up in Washington. These are good people of Texas. They know you better than any other Americans and they’re saying ‘enough is enough’. It’s in 2006 we’re taking this government back for the American people and the people of Texas. Ladies and gentlemen, you can do it. Thank you. <applause> Thank you very much. Thank you. <applause>