American bipartisan politics can be saved -- here's how | Bob Inglis

45,073 views ・ 2018-02-09

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00:12
Imagine that you're a member of Congress.
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You've worked very hard.
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You've knocked on thousands of doors,
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sweating and shivering, depending on the season.
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You've made hundreds,
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maybe thousands of phone calls to people you don't even know
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asking for their support,
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begging for their money.
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And now you've got one of these.
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It's hanging on a door in Washington, DC.
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It says you're a member of Congress,
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that you represent the people of your state.
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Now, imagine you're a conservative member of Congress.
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For some of you here in Boston, Massachusetts,
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that's going to take a powerful imagination, all right?
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(Laughter)
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But imagine with me
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that you're a conservative member of Congress.
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You grew up on Milton Friedman.
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You love his free markets,
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free enterprise and free trade.
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You've watched Ronald Reagan's farewell address over and over,
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and you cry every time --
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(Laughter)
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he gets to the part about the shining city on the hill,
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and how if the city had to have walls,
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the walls had doors --
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doors to let in those yearning to breathe free.
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You get goosebumps when you think of him telling Mr. Gorbachev
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to tear down his wall.
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You're a conservative member of Congress,
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and you agree with President John F. Kennedy
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that America is an exceptional place.
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For inspiration,
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you go to YouTube and you watch his speech at Rice University,
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September of 1962,
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the "moon shot" speech.
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And you're amazed that he admits in that speech --
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a speech of 17 minutes of pure American exceptionalism --
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that some of the materials needed for the spacecraft
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hadn't been invented yet.
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No matter.
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We're going to the Moon before the decade is out.
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You agree with him
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that the vows of this nation can be fulfilled
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only if we in this nation are first
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and therefore we intend to be first.
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You've taken as your own the affect that he so embodied:
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that when leaders are optimistic,
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they're saying they believe in the people they represent.
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You're a conservative member of Congress,
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and you believe in the precautionary principle.
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You believe in data-driven analysis.
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You know that climate change is real and human-caused,
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and you see in climate change
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a silent and slow-moving Sputnik moment.
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One that calls for the greatness of your nation
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as much as the original Sputnik moment.
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You are a conservative member of Congress.
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You high-five the memory of Jack Kemp,
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and believe with him
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that the test of conservatism is that it works for everyone,
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regardless of skin color.
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You're appalled by the alt-right.
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You want them to have nothing to do with your brand, your party, your legacy.
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You utterly reject them.
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You --
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(Applause)
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You're a conservative member of Congress.
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You rise with compassion to protect the lives of the unborn,
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but otherwise you think the bedroom of consenting adults
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is a rather strange place for the government to be.
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You are a conservative member of Congress.
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With John Adams,
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you fear the mob.
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Because you know, as he knew,
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that a mob is not able to protect liberty,
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not even its own.
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And you're amazed at the wisdom that he and other framers had
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in establishing a slow, deliberative governing process --
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an inherently conservative governing process.
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It would serve a country.
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It would grow far greater than they could ever imagine.
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You are a conservative member of Congress.
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You fear the fire of populist nationalism,
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because you know that those who play with fire
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can't control it.
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You see their pitchforks and torches,
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and you know they're not good building tools.
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The pitchforks and torches can tear down and burn up but they can't build up.
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They can't build up the institutions and the communities
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so necessary to a stable and prosperous country.
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You're a conservative member of Congress,
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and you fear the next county party convention.
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You so wish for your party to be the grand opportunity party,
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not the grumpy old party.
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(Laughter)
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You know that they want to hear from you some old saw
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about how a secret Muslim, non-American socialist took over in the White House
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and destroyed the country,
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and you know that none of that's true.
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(Applause)
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You know that they want to hear you say that you're OK with insults,
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OK with "lock her up" chants
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and OK with policy pronouncements
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with all the sincerity and thoughtfulness that 140 characters can muster.
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You are a conservative member of Congress.
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You realize that many in your party look to some good old days
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that you know never existed.
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They hold on, for example,
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to the fossils that fueled the last century of growth,
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but you know that better, cleaner more abundant fuels await us,
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and you know that that abundance can lead the world to more energy,
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more mobility
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and more freedom.
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You're a conservative member of Congress.
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You realize that many in your party pine for the '50s and the '60s
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because those were, after all, the good old days.
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But you know that the Cuyahoga River was on fire back then.
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You know that in Pittsburgh,
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street lights came on at noon because of the soot in the air.
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The schools were segregated,
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neighborhoods redlined,
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that communism threatened freedom,
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and if you got cancer, you weren't likely to fight for long.
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You're a conservative member of Congress
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and you want to sound like JFK at Rice,
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where JFK said, "It's understandable
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why some would have us stay where we are
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a little bit longer,
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to wait and to rest."
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But everything within you says with him,
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this city of Houston,
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this state of Texas,
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this country of the United States was not built by those who waited
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and rested and wished to look behind them.
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You are ready to lead.
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You are ready to prove the power of free enterprise
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to solve challenges like climate change.
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You are ready to lead.
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So I've got a suggestion for you then:
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lead ...
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now.
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Step out,
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step up.
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You know, we ask America's best
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to die on literal hills
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in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Is it too much to ask you to die a figurative death
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on a political hill in Washington, DC?
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You know, at the end of your time in Washington,
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they're going to take this plaque off the door.
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They're going to hand it to you;
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you're going to go home with it.
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Can you imagine the emptiness of knowing that you stood for nothing,
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that you risk nothing,
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that all you did was follow fearful people to where they were already going
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rather than trying to lead them to a better place?
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If you're not willing to lose your seat in Congress,
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there's really very little reason to be there.
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(Applause)
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So here's the thing:
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it's not too late.
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There's still time to lead.
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Speak out,
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speak up,
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call lunacy what it is:
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lunacy.
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Tell the American people that we still have moon shots in us.
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Tell the folks at the county party convention,
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"You bet free enterprise can solve climate change."
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Tell them that Milton Friedman would say to tax pollution
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rather than profits.
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Tell them that it's OK --
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no, it's a good thing
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that progressives would agree.
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Tell them the very good news that we can bring America together
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to solve these challenges and to lead the world.
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Tell them that free enterprise can do these things.
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Tell them that America must stop the dividing,
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and must start the uniting.
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Tell them.
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Play your part before it's too late.
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(Applause)
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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