Tuesday the American people delivered their verdict: guilty.
The guilty had this to say to the jury:
Well, there was a — I read those same polls, and I believe that — I thought when it was all said and done, the American people would understand the importance of taxes and the importance of security.
Then as an afterthought the President added:
But the people have spoken, and now it’s time for us to move on.
Mr. President, the American people have moved on and left you in the dustbin of history.
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This was a victory for our children. This election was for the soul of America. We were either to be a nation of fear that mortgaged all for security, or a nation where liberty becomes the bedrock of security. The American people chose wisely. Ironically, the American people have rescued their nation from the tyranny of the majority. They voted for accountability. They voted against the arrogance of power. The bums have been thrown out.
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Virginia has a new Senator tonight. His name is James Webb. He is a good and decent man and I expect he will represent the Commonwealth well in Washington.
Tonight America is blue. America is blue tonight because it has cleansed itself. Democracy is thriving in America. That is a hopeful sign, not only for America, but for the whole world.
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Tonight the words of John Fitzgerald Kennedy seem appropriate. On January the 20th, 1961, President Kennedy declared:
The world is very different now. For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life. And yet the same revolutionary beliefs for which our forebears fought are still at issue around the globe–the belief that the rights of man come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of God.
We dare not forget today that we are the heirs of that first revolution. Let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans–born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage–and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this Nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world.
Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
This much we pledge–and more.
It is not morning in America, nor is it the twilight. There is a lot of work ahead. There are many miles to go before we sleep.
