What is America, Barack?
Barack Obama gave what was billed as a major foreign policy speech yesterday. I haven't read the whole thing yet--hopefully I'll have a chance sometime soon--but this quote from Andrew Sullivan's Daily Dish was impressive. Obama's great at getting the rhetoric right, at least for me. The question is still whether he has the political and administrative resources to actually lead the country. Here's the quote.
We must [lead] not in the spirit of a patron, but the spirit of a partner – a partner that is mindful of its own imperfections. Extending an outstretched hand to these states must ultimately be more than just a matter of expedience or even charity. It must be about recognizing the inherent equality and worth of all people. And it’s about showing the world that America stands for something – that we can still lead...[I]f the next President can restore the American people's trust – if they know that he or she is acting with their best interests at heart, with prudence and wisdom and some measure of humility – then I believe the American people will be ready to see America lead again.
They will be ready to show the world that we are not a country that ships prisoners in the dead of night to be tortured in far off countries. That we are not a country that runs prisons which lock people away without ever telling them why they are there or what they are charged with. That we are not a country which preaches compassion and justice to others while we allow bodies to float down the streets of a major American city.
That is not who we are.