Sen. Barack Obama offers a different vision for U.S.-Cuba relations and a new posture to the Americas.
Renewing U.S. Leadership in the Americas: Remarks of Senator Barack Obama before the Cuban American National Foundation, May 23, 2008 (as prepared for delivery)
It is my privilege to join in this week’s Independence Day celebration, and in honoring those who have stood up with courage and conviction for Cuban liberty. I’m going to take this opportunity to speak about Cuba, and also U.S. policy toward the Americas more broadly.
We meet here united in our unshakeable commitment to freedom. And it is fitting that we reaffirm that commitment here in Miami.
In many ways, Miami stands as a symbol of hope for what’s possible in the Americas. Miami’s promise of liberty and opportunity has drawn generations of immigrants to these shores, sometimes with nothing more than the clothes on their back. It was a similar hope that drew my own father across an ocean, in search of the same promise that our dreams need not be deferred because of who we are, what we look like, or where we come from.
Here, in Miami, that promise can join people together. We take common pride in a vibrant and diverse democracy, and a hard-earned prosperity. We find common pleasure in the crack of the bat, in the rhythms of our music, and the ease of voices shifting from Spanish or Creole or Portuguese to English.
These bonds are built on a foundation of shared history in our hemisphere. Colonized by empires, we share stories of liberation. Confronted by our own imperfections, we are joined in a desire to build a more perfect union. Rich in resources, we have yet to vanquish poverty.
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Listening to Jim Webb in this rather too brief snippet convinces me more than ever that he should be Sen. Barack Obama’s running mate. I don’t know if he’ll accept the vice-presidency but, I think, together, he and Obama could craft a message that could reshape the Democratic Party for generations to come.
Comment by David Boaz
I saw the film “Iron man” with my 7-year-old and 10-year-old sons. I cautioned them beforehand that they should be mindful of who is cast as villains in the film. It was an inadequate, half-hearted gesture. Half-hearted not because I did not believe what I was telling them, but half-hearted because, first, I let them see the film and, second, because I should have educated them better about villainy and values.