Last week was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. On Thursday, I took the opportunity to go and visit the Jefferson Memorial, which I had never seen, and see the Roosevelt Memorial a second time.
My walk around the tidal basin with the flowering trees in glorious bloom was like a springtime meditation on renewal for our country, as my visits to the memorials of two of our greatest presidents reminded me once again that we need visionary leadership that remembers that we have freedoms and rights and value as individuals.
With a scarcity of leadership on the national horizon, the leaders we seek may indeed be us, so I leave you to ponder some of the words of Thomas Jefferson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and what it will take to bring positive new growth and renewal in the United States.
God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that his justice cannot sleep forever. Commerce between master and slave is despotism. Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate than that these people are to be free. Establish the law for educating the common people. This is the business of the state to effect and on a general plan.
- Thomas Jefferson, quoted on the monument
I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind, as that becomes more developed and more enlightened. As new discoveries are made, new truths discovered, and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors.
-Thomas Jefferson, quoted on the monument
Almighty God hath created the mind free. All attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burthens -- are a departure from the plan of the holy author of our religion -- no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship or ministry or shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief, but all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matter of religion. I know but one code of morality for men whether acting singly or collectively.
-Thomas Jefferson, quoted on the monument
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men. We ... solemnly publish and declare, that these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states...and for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honour.
-Declaration of Independence, written by Jefferson and quoted on the monument.
Freedom of Speech Freedom of Worship Freedom from Want Freedom from Fear
-Roosevelt's 4 Freedoms, quoted on his monument
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
No country, however rich, can afford the waste of its human resources. Demoralization caused by vast unemployment is our greatest extravagance. Morally, it is the greatest menace to our social order.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
The structure of world peace cannot be the work of one man or one party, or one nation...It must be a peace which rests on the cooperative effort of the whole world.
I am thinking the above quote is Eleanor Roosevelt since it's next to a statue of her, but I don't know for sure.
Unless the peace that follows recognizes that the whole world is one neighborhood, and does justice to the whole human race, the germs of another world war will remain as a constant threat to mankind.
More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
They (who) seek to establish systems of government based on the regimentation of all human beings by a handful of individual rulers, call this a new order. It is not new and it is not order.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of all citizens, whatever their background. We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a wedge designed to attack our civilization.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much, it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
In these days of difficulty, we Americans everywhere must and shall choose the path of social justice, the path of faith, the path of hope, and the path of love toward our fellow man.
-FDR, quoted on his monument.
I think I'm going to make it a spring tradition to go visit Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Roosevelt every year as long as I live in this area. The nearby "Tulip Library" is also lovely...
In this diary, I’ll quote from just a few of the many sources around the tubes showing Edwards’ commitment to lifting people out of poverty and to helping working Americans.
Videos:
Edwards and Danny Glover in New Orleans
Edwards: "What are we going to do about at least 37 million -- that's the government's estimate -- at least 37 million of our own people, who wake up every day worried about feeding and clothing their children? Because, I don't know about you, but I think it says something about the character of our country, how we treat those among us who are literally worried just about surviving."
Edwards speaking to the IAFF
Edwards: "I have been all over this country organizing workers into unions, because I believe in my heart and soul, if we want to grow the middle class in this country, if we want to strengthen the middle class, if we want to lift millions of Americans out of poverty, the most important piece of that, certainly one of the most critical pieces of it, is to grow the union movement."
Edwards: "I think we desperately need comprehensive labor law reform in this country. And I want to be very clear with all of you about what I believe. I think if someone can join the Republican Party by signing their name to a card, any worker in America ought to be able to join a union by doing exactly the same thing. That's democracy in the workplace." (standing ovation).
"And, before you sit down, we ought to ban the hiring of permanent replacements for strikers and make that the law of the land."
Walk A Day In My Shoes: John Edwards/Elaine Ellis
Elaine Ellis: "I will remember the Senator as a very nice person. I think that he is eager to learn the fact that health care workers need more attention from the government. It was a good day all around."
Will You Stand Up? (excerpt from speech to DNC)
Edwards: "We can not walk away from our people. We can not walk away from the heart and soul of what the Democratic Party is and should be."
John Edwards – Rural Recovery in Iowa
Edwards: "We want to help family farmers, and the best way to help family farmers, in my judgment, is to create a level playing field, and that means cracking down on and being tougher on these big conglomerate, corporate farming operations."
John Edwards – Iowa Women’s Town Hall
Edwards: "If we really want to empower women in this country, if we want to give force to the women's movement in this country, then we want women to have self-esteem, and strength, and respect, and they can't continue to not have health care coverage, or live in poverty, or get paid $.77 on the dollar for doing the same work men are doing. That's not right!"
John Edwards and the Minimum Wage
Before he announced his candidacy for president, John Edwards worked on successful campaigns to get the minimum wage raised in six states.
Danny Glover: "Somebody that cares about working people, somebody who cares about the right for working people to organize and cares for the right for working people to have a decent wage and benefits: Senator John Edwards!"
Edwards on college costs
at town hall in Newton, Iowa 3/10/2007
Edwards on his college for everyon program: "There was no government money in it. I raised the money for it, got the community involved. This is what we did. We said to every kid in the area, if you graduate from high school, and you're qualified to be in college, and you commit to work at least 10 hours a week while you're there, we pay for your tuition and books. It was pretty much that simple."
Quote: Here’s what he gets. It’s not just that those baking the pie ought to get fair slices. It’s not even the simple fact that too many poor people are playing by the rules yet still struggling to make ends meet with terribly insufficient incomes. Nor is it the glaringly obvious fact that kids who grow up poor have tremendous disadvantages that it is in all of our interests to avoid.
All those are true and important. But what Edwards gets—and you really want a president who feels this in his or her bones—is that these inequities undermine America. They quietly, slowly, and perniciously erode people’s support for our system of democracy and free markets. Untreated, they lead to distrust and defunding of government, diminished participation in the political system, protectionism and nativism, and a means-spiritedness that is as divisive as it is pessimistic. And I’d argue strongly that this is exactly where we’re headed.
Quote: What’s “new” and “fresh” that Edwards should be praised for is the political courage to focus the public’s attention on this subject after decades of neglect and a set of ideas that, based on research and experience -- as opposed to focus groups and right-wing salesmanship – have the best chance of making significant progress.
Quote: "The difference between union and non-union is literally the difference between poverty and middle class," Edwards told Fortune. "Hotel workers, restaurant workers, home health workers, hospital workers - at last count there are some 50 million people who work in the service economy. Those jobs aren't going anywhere else. They have to be done in the United States."
Quote: Everyday, I provide basic care for nine residents who need attention from the time they wake up to the time they go to sleep. I've been doing this for eighteen years, and while it might look easy on TV, I'm sure the Senator will now be able to tell you otherwise.
Sometimes I feel like nursing assistants like me are at the bottom of the health care debate, but we are the ones who are holding everything up. We know what's wrong, and we know what we need to do to fix things. If politicians listened to us, then we might be able to get some real changes.
Quote: As part of SEIU’s program to ensure that presidential candidates experience firsthand what life is like for working people in America, Sen. John Edwards on April 11th walked a day in the shoes of SEIU member Elaine Ellis.
Quote: Homeownership is the foundation of the American Dream. For most families, the equity they build up in their home is a source of security and the primary source of their wealth. But for millions of families, the dream of homeownership is slipping away. Home foreclosure filings rose to 1.2 million in 2006 — a 42 percent jump — due to rising mortgage bills and a slowing housing market. In Iowa, 3,445 families experienced foreclosure last year, up 64 percent from 2005. Nationally, as many as 2.4 million subprime borrowers have either lost their homes or could lose them in the next few years. Problems in the housing market could weigh down the economy.
Quote: Murphy, 50, likes Sen. Barack Obama but says the Illinois freshman "hasn't been around long enough." New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is "too much of a Washington politician." Edwards, he says, "is pretty down to earth and knows what's going on with people at my income level."
Kuo: “I believe John Edwards. I believe his passionate statements on behalf of the poor. I believe that the faith he says animates him is real. I believe that he has made quiet and selfless trips to care for the suffering around the world. I believe he knows what poverty is like and that his faith in Jesus requires him to care for the poor. I believe that those who criticize him for living in a huge house while talking about the poor should shut up - by that standard should only the sick get to talk about health care? I really, truly, absolutely believe John Edwards.”
Quote: "Rural America has been ignored for too long," said Edwards. "Across America, too many small towns have turned into ghost towns. We need to help small towns and rural communities create and keep new businesses and good jobs, and we need a President who will make sure all our communities have good schools, good health care and the support systems they need. As President, I will make sure rural America is never left behind."
Quote: Edwards has outlined a Working Society initiative to lift 12 million Americans out of poverty in a decade and beat poverty over the next 30 years. In the Working Society, everyone who is able to work hard will be expected to work and, in turn, be rewarded for it.
Quote: Mr. Edwards, who announced his campaign for the presidency in the Ninth Ward, has stood by his commitment to make poverty one of his big campaign issues. I mentioned that poverty has not gotten much attention from the national media, and asked why middle-class Americans should care about the issue.
"First, you should care because it's a moral issue," he said. "It tells us something about the character of our country. And, by the way, I think most people do care about it. And second, you should care because if you want to see the American economy grow and strengthen over time, the strength and breadth of the middle class is a critical factor. When we have middle-class families struggling on the edge, falling into poverty or near poverty, those things weaken the American economy."
Edwards: What I intend to continue to do, though, if I can bring us full circle back to the beginning of this discussion, is no matter whether anyone asks, no matter whether any other candidate ever raises the issue, as long as I'm alive and breathing and as long as I am a presidential candidate, I will be speaking up for the little guy. And I think that a lot of that has been lost in American politics for strategic political reasons. And their voice needs to be heard--desperately needs to be heard. And if I do nothing else, their voice will be heard through me.
Last week was the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC. On Thursday, I took the opportunity to go and visit the Jefferson Memorial, which I had never seen, and see the Roosevelt Memorial a second time. 
