Twenty-one years ago President Ronald Reagan delivered the greatest speech of his political life. He stood before the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, before the obscenity that was the Berlin Wall, and challenged Mikhail Gorbachev:
"...If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
This nation of ours has suffered our own divisive walls for far too long. The one between races; the one between genders; the one between the haves and the have-nots; the one between red states and blue states; the one between lies and the truth.
If we lose the White House in 2008, there will be a strengthening of the old walls and the creation of terrible new ones: the wall between women and their reproductive rights; the wall between those who would have an end to the bloody debacle in Iraq and those who insist an ill-conceived war without end is worth more bloodshed, more loss of lives; the wall between those who promote war as the answer to international differences and those who want a diplomacy first government; the wall between those who revere the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and those who have been -- and will continue to be -- dismantling those fundamental freedoms which have ensured a strong, vibrant democracy.
We have walls enough to tear down, walls enough to guard against. We cannot afford the divisive wall constructed by Democrats against Democrats during Campaign 2008 to stand. It is the wall of sexism; racism; I'm the best one; you're naive, irresponsible and inexperienced; my church is better than your church. It is the wall of rage: "I will never vote for...!" It is the wall Harriet Christian typified on Saturday, May 31, when she shrieked, "God damn the Democrats!" She promised us John McCain would be our next president -- and she'd help him win.
We look to you, Senator Clinton, to do your part. You are the only person who has the power to begin bringing down the wall that words built. Words spoken in anger or in desperation built it and words can remove it. It begins with you. It begins when you say to a bruised Democratic Party that politics can be tough -- even ugly. When you tell us the truths we need to hear: Barack Obama is not, and has never been a sexist, a racist, less patriotic or capable than you or John McCain. It begins when you tell us no one robbed you of the nomination; that you did your best, fought hard, served as an example to women and came up a little short. It begins when you speak the truth without qualification and with all the passion you invested in your own campaign for the nomination.
We cannot afford another four years of the Bush Doctrine because supporters of any candidate have been whipped into such a frenzy they no longer see past their own pain and anger, because they lose sight of the larger picture. Not even if they're yours -- and you love them. Our country is at stake. Ours. Theirs. Yours.
Ronald Reagan said of that Soviet wall dividing parents from children and brothers from sisters, "...This wall will fall, for it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth..."
Those words in West Berlin proved to be a remarkable measure of his legacy. Now it's your turn, Hillary, to look ahead, to decide what the measure of your legacy will be. It can be a small one, a defiant, destructive, divisive end to the primary season. Or it can be a great one which rises above disappointment and personal ambition for the sake of your party and your country. We need the best of you now in support of a new Democratic administration that will bring us the change we desperately need, one which will unite us again. The choice is yours to make.
Senator Clinton, tear down this wall!
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Posted June 5, 2008 | 10:26 AM (EST)