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[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Hillary Clinton
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/
Remarks at the Iowa Jefferson-Jackson Dinner
Des Moines, Iowa
11/10/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Bill Richardson
http://www.richardsonforpresident.com/home
Hard Choices:
The Responsible Way Forward for Iraq and our Military
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
10/4/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Barack Obama
http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
A Change We Can Believe In
Spartanburg, South Carolina
11/3/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
John Edwards
The Moral Test of Our Generation
Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire
10/29/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Joe Biden
National Security and Civil Rights
Drake University School of Law, Des Moines, Iowa
4/3/07
[This is one of a continuing series of candidate speech transcripts from all the Democratic presidential campaigns. Please see the introduction to this series for more information.]
Chris Dodd
Rekindling the Flame -- A Call for A New American Patriotism
Nashua City Hall Plaza, Nashua, New Hampshire
6/23/07
I admit that this is a radical idea, and an honestly singular new way of thinking. Connolly knows this as well, and has prepared for skepticism. The Institute's site has a list of common objections to the Public Talks concept, complete with plausible answers for each. He makes a convincing case that he's not just tilting at windmills, but that his idea could actually and effectively work. The biggest argument he's got going for him is that the whole idea wouldn't even begin until after normal diplomatic negotiations had collapsed. At that point, what is there really left to lose for either side?
John Connolly is putting this idea into the vaunted "marketplace of ideas" for consideration by one and all. While this marketplace can be brutal to those espousing abhorrent ideas (like President Ahmadinejad of Iran recently), it should also remain open to creative original thinking when it (so rarely) happens.
The public -- the "shoppers" in the marketplace -- are the ones who ultimately will decide the merits of the idea. But they can't decide if they don't even hear it in the first place. Which is why I present it here, to give it the wider audience I think it deserves.
I'd like to thank B. Driscoll for publicly making these photos available, and allowing me to post them here. I am always open to consideration for photos of other events which the mainstream media largely ignores as well.
The first photo is of the "die-in" where most of the arrests were made. The black and white photo of a speaker is Eton Thomas from the Washington Wizards basketball team.
Enjoy!
Since I was on vacation last week, I am happy to turn over this week's column to a Madison Avenue ad-man who must remain unidentified. He has chosen to remain anonymous (due to his Republican clientele), but he has written a powerful political blueprint that I believe deserves a wider audience.