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I have some basis for judging his performances by now, because this is the 7th time I've seen him in the last year. Once I saw him tired; sometimes I've seen him good-but-not-great; & sometimes I've seen him flat-out great. Today, he was flat-out great - I've never seen a better political speech.
He was electrifying and absolutely passionate. His heart was connected to his every word, and he was not a politician just trying to woo votes. He was a man who sees his country -- and his party -- in terrible trouble, & he was trying to communicate to Californians that we have a real choice in the March 2 primary, and that that choice matters. In so many words, he said we can choose Democrats who will continue the Iraq occupation, replacing a Republican war with a Democratic version of it -- or we can choose him, to end it.
Early on in his remarks, he said to us: "Let me ask you all -- tell me in one word what the Iraq War was really about." Everyone immediately screamed, in unison, "OIL!" Dennis put his hand to his ear, and said, "I can't hear you! Tell me again!" So people yelled "OIL" again. And he said, "We've got to make people hear that all over this country."
{I have watched all but one of the candidate debates. I am quite certain that only Dennis has mentioned the word "oil" in the debates -- I've even checked several of the transcripts with a word-search. Dennis also said on Meet The Press, last spring, that oil was a major motivation for the war. Richard Perle, who was on MTP with him, immediately tried to jump down his throat for this remark.}
He proceeded to pose to us very starkly the question, "What does it mean for us all, if the Democratic Party chooses as its nominee, someone who voted for the Iraq invasion, supports the goals of the occupation, and wants to send an additional 40,000 troops in?" He said that this would take off the table any possibility of real dialog about what really caused the war, & that a war policy would make achieving worthy domestic goals impossible because without real cuts in the Pentagon budget, no meaningful domestic initiatives could be funded. He said a continued occupation would almost certainly lead to a draft.
He described the other planks of his program - enviromental protection, universal single-payer health care, withdrawing from NAFTA & WTO, etc. He asked, "How can I promise you these things? Is it magic? No, it's not magic. Here, I'll show you the secret." Then he lay his microphone down on the stage, and stood there silent, with both arms outstretched parallel to the ground, forming a human 'T' shape. Then holding that posture, he turned slowly around, 360 degrees. Upon finishing the rotation, he then said, "No strings." It took me a moment to realize that he meant "no strings attached" -- ie, unbought by corporations.
There was a good-sized crowd; it was friendly, loud, & warmly enthusiastic. I'm certain many went away knowing we'd heard a great deal of incandescent truth, told by a man of uncommon courage & vision. It was frankly thrilling.
When one reflects that this extraordinary person was on "The Tonight Show" last night, and only given the chance to be part of an inane skit, the mind boggles. It's like inviting Einstein on to a TV show and only letting him be seen in a swimsuit competition.
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