Philadelphia lends a panache to the Democratic National Convention this year that hard-scrabble Cleveland did not provide for the Republicans. The Republicans were hectored and urged to anger at their Trump Fest. Whereas Philadelphia can make history—as it once created a country—it can bring about a new reconciliation.
And that is what America needs. It was 84 years ago that Franklin Roosevelt launched a New Deal for America. Hillary Clinton now has an opportunity to launch a New America.
It will need a brave attempt to set aside the excesses of the past week and the strains of the past year. Hillary Clinton has to address the future. Americans have had enough of the past.
Americans want an end to bigotry. They want their country to be color neutral. They want peace with their neighbours. They know that friends are more fun.
And they know that Americans prefer to have their country’s neighbours as friends. They want trust, not walls. They want respect, not suspicion.
Americans need to have police that they can respect. They want police that use weapons as a last resort, not the first.
And they certainly do not want to see assault weapons in the hands of 14-year old gangbangers. Guns do not belong on peaceful streets. A gun might be a right in the country but it is also a responsibility. People need to prove they can handle that responsibility.
Trading deals with other countries have become a major step forward over the years. They make more sense than wars. Trade deals take time to discuss and to plan. They need to be fair to all concerned. With friends such as Canadians, it only took about 100 years to come to the first deal and both countries are still working out the kinks.
Hillary Clinton is not only breaking through the glass ceiling to become the first woman President of the United States of America. She bears more than the banner for her party as she bears the banner for all women. She will make them proud.
There will be many other speakers at the Democratic convention and there will probably be some rancour over the Republican event. No real democrat would be positive about the Republican nominee. And since everybody knows that, there is little need to mention his name. Why give him the publicity?
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Copyright 2016 © Peter Lowry
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