Utah Mayor Anderson’s Speech Scorches Bush

[durrrty libby]

“ In response to those who believe we should blindly support this disastrous president, his administration, and the complacent, complicit Congress, listen to the words of Theodore Roosevelt, a great president and a Republican, who said: The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole.

Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile.”
-snip-

“Our nation's reputation throughout much of the world has been destroyed. We have many more enemies bent on our destruction than before our invasion of Iraq.

And the hatred toward us has grown to the point that it will take many years, perhaps generations, to overcome the loathing created by our invasion and occupation of a Muslim country.
What incredible ineptitude and callousness for our President to talk about a Crusade while lying to us to make a case for the invasion and occupation of a Muslim country!

Our children and later generations will pay the price of the lies, the violence, the cruelty, the incompetence, and the inhumanity of the Bush administration and the lackey Congress that has so cowardly abrogated its responsibility and authority under our checks-and-balances system of government.

We are here to say, "We will not stand for it any more. No more lies. No more pre-emptive, illegal war, based on false information. No more God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense to justify this immoral, illegal war. No more inhumanity."

The entire speech here http://www.sltrib.com/ci_4263654

[marmar]

Dupe response.

Damn Mac keyboard.

[marmar]

1. Rocky rocks!

:yourock:

[YOY]

38. This one does!

I can think of another from New Orleans that doesn't.

[wicket]

47. Aaaaaaadriaaaaaaan!!!!

Sorry, couldn't help myself ;)

[Joe Bacon]

52. Why isn't Anderson running against Hatch?

I'd give anything to see him take on Whorrin Orrin

[MissWaverly]

2. works for me, Amen, Mayor Anderson

[durrrty libby]

4. I would love to see the guy give this speech

Every dem running for office should repeat
some of his words. I love this section

" No more lies, no more hiding of the truth, no more wars that more than triple the value of stock in Dick Cheney's prior employer, Halliburton - and which, as of last September, has increased the value of the Halliburton CEO's stock by $78 million.

We are patriots. We're deeply concerned. And we demand change, now.
No more lies from Condoleezza Rice about whether she and President Bush were advised before 9/11 of the possibility of planes being flown into buildings by terrorists.

No more gross incompetence in the office of the Secretary of Defense.
No more torture of human beings.
No more disregard of the basic human rights enshrined in the Geneva Convention.
No more kidnapping of people and sending them off to secret prisons in nations where we can expect they will be tortured.
No more unconstitutional wiretapping of Americans.
No more proposed amendments to the United States Constitution that would, for the first time, limit fundamental rights and liberties for entire classes of people simply on the basis of sexual orientation.

No more federal land giveaways to developers.
No more increases in mercury emissions from old, dirty, dangerous coalburning power plants.
No more backroom deals that deprive protection for millions of acres of wild lands.
No more attacks on immigrants who work so hard to build better lives.
No more inaction by Congress on fixing our hypocritical and inconsistent immigration laws and policies.

No more reliance on fiction rather than the science of global warming.
No more manipulation of our media with false propaganda.
No more disastrous cuts in funding for those most in need.
No more federal cuts in community policing and local law enforcement grant programs for our cities.
No more inaction on stopping the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan.
No more of the Patriot Act.
No more killing.
No more pre-emptive wars.
No more contempt for our long-time allies around the world.
No more dependence on foreign oil.
No more failure to impose increased fuel efficiency standards for automobiles.
No more energy policies developed in secret meetings between Dick Cheney and his energy company cronies.

No more excuses for failing to aggressively cut global warming pollutant emissions.
No more tragically incompetent federal responses to natural disasters.
No more tax cuts for the wealthiest, while the middle class and those who are economically-disadvantaged continue to struggle more and more each year.
No more reckless spending and massive tax cuts, resulting in historic deficits and historic accumulated national debt.
No more purchasing of elections by the wealthiest corporations and individuals in the country.
No more phony, ineffective, inhumane so-called war on drugs.
No more failure to pass an increase in the minimum wage.
No more silence by the American people.

This is a new day. We will not be silent. We will continue to raise our voices. We will bring others with us. We will grow and grow, regardless of political party - unified in our insistence upon the truth, upon peace-making, upon more humane treatment of our brothers and sisters around the world"


:bounce: :applause: :patriot:

[MissWaverly]

7. Yes, let's have a functional democracy again

[MichiganVote]

3. Kick...couldn't have said it better myself

[grateful581]

5. It was a great speech

I am happy I was there to hear it

[durrrty libby]

10. Lucky you. Did anyone take video?

I hope it ends up on youtube.

I would love to hear it

Tell me more...please

:hi:

[grateful581]

11. not sure about that

there was allot of cameras there so there is video somewhere

audio of the speech can be found here
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=457300

never mind the idiots who are commenting on the message board.

[durrrty libby]

12. Thanks for the link

This will be my bedtime story tonight!

:toast:

[mia]

19. The best speech I've heard in a long, long time.

Thanks for the link to the audio

[helderheid]

40. see post 39

[C_U_L8R]

6. A KO for Rocky

a good hardhitting speech right to Bush's breadbasket

[zeemike]

8. He pretty much said it all for me K&R n/t

[Supersedeas]

9. Well done...Utah, there is hope for ya.

[Monk06]

13. Anderson won't be mayor of Salt Lake City for much longer. He has the..

makings of a national leader.

[Apollo11]

26. Rocky will not seek third term

This summer he announced that he will not seek a third term as Mayor of Salt Lake City.

http://www.slcgov.com/mayor/speeches/2006%20speeches/SPmayoranderson72806.pdf

[Monk06]

50. Yay team. Go Rocky straight to Congress. BTW you have a most sylish sig

[fooj]

14. Rocky speaks for me!

Right on!

[sipsake]

15. That was fantastic!

I hope we start hearing a LOT more of this from others!

[durrrty libby]

16. Mayor Rocky was a guest on Countdown tonight

They played a clip of his speech and Keith let him talk
for a long time

He was great....and kind of adorable



:loveya:

[DUBYASCREWEDUS]

33. Saw him!

You are correct. He was great. What a speech. Can we run this guy for President?

[porkrind]

17. Kick for Rocky!

:dem:

[sknabt]

18. Yeah, I just saw Fox News free RNC commerical on it

http://www.eyesonfox.org/?p=57

[ldf]

20. incredible!

:toast:

:thumbsup:

:woohoo:

wow, if only our democratic leaders would follow his example!

[durrrty libby]

21. Exactly! Can you imagine if 80% and not 8% of our dems

spoke up like this?

We would have a whole new world

:toast: :party:

[badgerpup]

22. Does this remind anyone of MLK's "I have a dream" speech?

I got the same shivers reading this as I do when I listen to that speech every year.
:patriot: :applause: :yourock:

[neuvocat]

23. Bush has officially lost the country.

This is the greatest speech I have ever read since the year 2001.

[Rainscents]

24. Speech is AWESOME!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[Sherman A1]

25. I watched a replay and it was GREAT!

[BootinUp]

27. For a minute I tried to compare Bush to Teddy

then I laughed out loud.

[Flying Dream Blues]

28. I like "the worst presidency this nation has had to endure"

Sorry if that's a paraphrase...I can't get the SL Trib window to open again. I guess everyone is reading the speech, which is a beautiful thing!

[acmavm]

29. Can anyone here just imagine this guy and John Dean on

a podium together? Sparks would fly!!!!!!!

edit: I mean sparks would fly in a good way.

[BonnieJW]

36. Do you mean Howard Dean?

[acmavm]

42. Yes, I most certainly do. I was reading something from a

book by John Dean this morning and the name stuck with me.

Shit.

[blondeatlast]

49. OTOH, John Dean is an eloquent opponent of Bush.

Just not a feiry speaker.

[The Wizard]

30. I have a dream

for impeachment.
What about serial killing, treasury looting, lying scumbags and war profiteers?
To all the Bush supporters out there: Hang your heads in shame. You have forsaken your duty as real, freedom loving Americans and given into fear. You are cowards like the chicken hawks who frighten you, And yes it must be said, you are indeed morans.

[keith the dem]

31. Finally, finally!

From deep inside a red state no less. The RW machine will now swift-boat him to no end. This man has courage!

[durrrty libby]

34. A Thank You Rocky site is up

http://www.thankyourockyanderson.org/


:loveya: :loveya: :headbang: :yourock:

[Joe Chi Minh]

32. Not to put too fine a point on it, the President is there to represent

the people, not the people, the President (as the neo-Republicans would have it).

Mind you, for Bushco to speak the truth - even half of it - would be political suicide, and they're going to have to be dragged from office, probably by the courts, kicking and screaming. But it's good to hear a public official going straight to the heart of the matter and stating the unadorned truth, loud and clear.

[gademocrat7]

35. I hope more Democrats will join the "Rocky Chorus"

We need all our Democratic leaders to unite and drum the shrub cabal out of office and to the Hague.

[Blutodog]

37. War criminals / fascist thugs

We need to confront this criminal regime and soon or else. The more desperate they become the more dangerous they are.

[Thoreau-Ly]

45. Ayup, 'Cause

WWIII :loveya: GWB

:nuke:

[helderheid]

39. VIDEO HERE

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2018747

[durrrty libby]

44. Thanks for the video link

I just watched it and Rocky does not mince words

He goes so far as to implicate Reagan and Bush I

for much of the Iraq mess.
I love how he includes the crowd and gets them to participate


Ok, he does not deliver like Bill Clinton, Al Gore or even

Keith Olbermann, but for a mayor he is beyond outstanding

Here's a direct link to the video

http://kutv.com/video/?id=[e-mail]

He surely must have higher aspirations

Rock on Rocky :yourock:


Edited to add....Don't forget to give a Thank You to Rocky

here http://www.thankyourockyanderson.org/

We need to keep showing appreciation to the few who will speak for us

[helderheid]

51. kickin your post!

[LuLu550]

41. All this AND Keith Olbermann, too??

We might just be turning a corner, folks

[CollegeDUer]

43. God Bless that man he is an American Ken Livingstone

He should declare solidarity with the mayors of Mexico City and London against all 3 of their corrupt RW administrations.

[emmadoggy]

46. Absolutely Fantastic!

What a courageous speech! Democrats all over this country need to be standing up and shouting out just like Rocky!! ESPECIALLY our Dems in Congress.

Go Rocky!!

:kick:

[samsingh]

48. and let's not forget the media that lied accepted lies and distorted

to support the offical lies.

[clark08]

53. that is

hot!

[Warroad]

54. great speech

I'm usually a lurker, but I just have to to say I think it is funny that he would quote Pres. Roosevelt in a speech opposed to what is basically an imperialist war.

If my memory serves, he was one of the prime movers behind the annexation of Hawaii (conquering Hawaii for Dole pineapple). Using the pretext of "liberating" Cuba from Spanish rule, he agitated for an invasion. When the chance came (the explosion of the Maine) he, as we all know from gradeschool mythology..er..history... joined the Rough Riders and took part in the war. Cuba was not liberated but occupied. Of course, now that war with Spain was begun, what next, but the "stepping stone" to Asia, the Phillipines. President McKinley demanded the Phillipines from Spain, and got it. But some Phillipino named Aguinaldo decided he didn't want to be ruled by the United States and resisted. What followed was a horrible war in which thousands died in various atrocities. The conflict was also one of "race" which created doubts in the minds of many Americans (especially African-Americans). These doubts were soothed for white folk by Rudyard Kipling's poem "Take up the White Man's Burden..."

Now, I realize everyone has good things about them, and bad. None of us is black and white, and no analysis of history is ever purely objective. But I just couldn't resist the similarities between 1900ish and 2005 America. And taking quotes from a man who would, most likely, be all for the Iraq misadventure (Dole, KBR, big diff) were he alive today, to rip on Bush, is just hilarious. There were Americans at that time too who thought that the events they couldn't stop signalled the end of an "old" America and the beginning of a scary new one.

Oh, and to readers of the "Nation" Roosevelt thought it was a piece of crap. Things don't change much in a century, I guess.

Sorry for the long post, but I just read "The Proud Tower" by Barbara Tuchman to help me pass the time in Iraq. It is a great book, and so I had this stuff on my mind.

Sorry for such a long post. Probably too long for a first post. GREAT SPEECH THOUGH.

[ldf]

57. welcome to du, Warroad

:hi:

and thanks for your service to our country.

:toast:

as far as quoting roosevelt, sometimes irony works.

[Justice]

55. it is a great speech, it almost makes up for him campaigning for Romney

When Romney ran for Governor in MA (Republican) - Rocky campaigned for him and did ads for him. Very effective for Romney. I was really angry that a Democrat would do that against another Democrat (Romney's opponent)

[ldf]

56. are you saying rocky is a democrat?

i couldn't find it in his bio.

[durrrty libby]

58. Yes he is a dem and very liberal. My kind of guy

"Ross C. "Rocky" Anderson (born 1951) is the current mayor of Salt Lake City, Utah. He was born in Logan and received a bachelor's degree in science from the University of Utah and a Juris Doctor degree from George Washington University. Although the office of mayor in Salt Lake City is nonpartisan, Anderson's personal party affiliation is Democratic, and much of his platform is that of a liberal Democrat. Anderson was first elected in 1999 and was reelected in 2003."

Anderson spent many years as a lawyer in Salt Lake City, specializing in civil litigation. He was affiliated with the ACLU <1>, although not (as myth has it) president of the local chapter. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress in 1996, but received 55% of Salt Lake City's vote in that race. <2>

Anderson has a strong American liberal agenda. Under his mayorship, the city has purchased wind power, increased recycling, and is converting its fleet of city vehicles to alternative fuels. Anderson has supported initial measures to make the city more bicycle-friendly and pedestrian-friendly while opposing "monster" home rebuilding projects in the historic Avenues and Sugar House districts. He helped manage the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, and is a major proponent of downtown revitalization projects. He is an ardent opponent of tobacco use and has supported legislative measures limiting smoking; conversely, he is one of the most outspoken public critics of Utah's strict liquor laws (state law permits the sale of liquor only in restaurants, private clubs, and state-run liquor stores).

Anderson opposes English-only legislation, supports gay rights and same-sex marriage, and has launched living wage initiatives. "

more at wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

[ldf]

61. woohoo!! thanks!

:woohoo:

i had read that utah was pretty much a republican stronghold, and thought it would be terrible if a republican was the one that was saying what needed to be said.... (not that i don't want it to be said, just that, obviously, the democrats need to be the ones saying it... :eyes: )

:toast: to Rocky!!!

[durrrty libby]

63. That is curious indeed

Maybe they became buds during collaberation
on the Olympics

From his profile, he seems like a guy that does not hide

where he stands

[sendero]

59. It really doesn't..

.... get much better than this.

This is what I'M TALKING ABOUT. We need 10 more Rockys!

[durrrty libby]

60. Yes we need a bunch more

I was reading more of his wiki profile and it seems he got the folks

at Fox and Friends all riled up. It's pretty funny and I wish I had seen it, but then again I rarley watch Faux News


from wiki

"In August 2006 Anderson gave an interview with the show Fox and Friends on the Fox News network, concerning his plans for an anti-war protest to coincide with a visit from President Bush. The interview generated significant interest in Fox's viewers, with the show receiving a large number of emails, many of which were said to be critical of the mayor. These criticisms were raised at the beginning of the interview, which began cordially, until Anderson claimed that President Bush "makes excuses for torturing other human beings". At this point one of the interviewers, E.D. Hill, broke in and asked Anderson for evidence supporting this statement. Much of remainder of the interview involved Anderson and Hill debating this point, until Anderson claimed that "you folks are the ones that are helping to mislead the American people". Later in the interview Anderson again claimed that "we were lied into this war by you folks, the mainstream media". In the final seconds of the interview E.D. Hill defended herself, saying "we didn't lie to anyone". Afterwards, Hill used her "Fox and Friends" blog to address the incident and printed some of the "hundreds of emails" she had received concerning it."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Anderson

[sendero]

62. Yeah..

... while I'm dreaming of 10 more Rockys, I'm dreaming of the day when the Media Whore Enablers are called to account.

They AB-SO-FUCKING-LUTE-LY lied, and many of them are as culpable as Bush for the sorry mess we find our country in at this time.

There has to be a reckoning someday.

[lildreamer316]

64. The mayor in one of the most religious cities in one of the most religious

states says THAT?????/
G*&$ammn it at to hell!!
Color me seriously impressed.

[riona]

65. Fantastic!

:kick:

[fortyfeetunder]

66. Rocky's message: SPEAK UP!!!

After all these years of pandering and whitewash, Rocky saw a level of complacency and silence. His speech will be categorized by scholars as one of the classic 21st century oratories.

We must remember the last sentence....

'Let us keep in mind the injunction of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." '