2019 Newest Book: The Tyranny of Public Discourse:  “I do not seek applause, nor to amuse the people, I want to convince them.” —Abraham Lincoln  Earth tone is factual foundation. Green is logical direction. Red is argument. Remarks by the First Lady at the Democratic National Convention September 4, 2012 Time Warner Cable Arena Charlotte, North Carolina 1. Enunciation “The enunciation states what is given and what is being sought from it.” Enunciation: [Given] MRS. OBAMA: Thank you. Thank you so much. (Applause.) Thank you. Thank you so much. AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! MRS. OBAMA: With your help. With your help. (Applause.) Let
me start -- I want to start by thanking Elaine. Elaine, thank you so
much. We are so grateful for your family’s service and sacrifice, and we
will always have your back. (Applause.) Over
the past few years as First Lady, I have had the extraordinary
privilege of traveling all across this country. And everywhere I’ve
gone, and the people I’ve met, and the stories I’ve heard, I have seen
the very best of the American spirit. I have seen it in the incredible
kindness and warmth that people have shown me and my family, especially
our girls. I’ve
seen it in teachers in a near-bankrupt school district who vowed to
keep teaching without pay. (Applause.) I’ve seen it in people who become
heroes at a moment’s notice, diving into harm’s way to save others;
flying across the country to put out a fire; driving for hours to bail
out a flooded town. And
I’ve seen it in our men and women in uniform and our proud military
families. (Applause.) In wounded warriors who tell me they’re not just
going to walk again, they’re going to run, and they’re going to run
marathons. (Applause.) In the young man blinded by a bomb in Afghanistan
who said, simply, "I’d give my eyes 100 times again to have the chance
to do what I have done and what I can still do." Every
day, the people I meet inspire me. Every day, they make me proud. Every
day, they remind me how blessed we are to live in the greatest nation
on Earth. (Applause.) Serving
as your First Lady is an honor and a privilege. But back when we first
came together four years ago, I still had some concerns about this
journey we’d begun. While I believed deeply in my husband’s vision for
this country, and I was certain he would make an extraordinary
President, like any mother, I was worried about what it would mean for
our girls if he got that chance. How will we keep them grounded under
the glare of the national spotlight? How would they feel being uprooted
from their school, their friends, and the only home they’d ever known? See,
our life before moving to Washington was filled with simple joys --
Saturdays at soccer games, Sundays at Grandma’s house, and a date night
for Barack and me was either dinner or a movie, because as an exhausted
mom, I couldn’t stay awake for both. (Laughter.) And
the truth is, I loved the life we had built for our girls, and I deeply
loved the man I had built that life with -- and I didn’t want that to
change if he became President. (Applause.) [Sought] I loved Barack just the way he was. 2. Exposition “The exposition takes separately what is given and prepares it in advance for use in the investigation.” Exposition:
You see, even back then, when Barack was a senator and a presidential
candidate, to me, he was still the guy who picked me up for our dates in
a car that was so rusted out, I could actually see the pavement going
by in a hole in the passenger side door. (Laughter.) He was the guy
whose proudest possession was a coffee table he’d found in a dumpster,
and whose only pair of decent shoes was a half size too small.
(Laughter.) But, see, when Barack started telling
me about his family -– see, now, that’s when I knew I had found a
kindred spirit, someone whose values and upbringing were so much like
mine. You see, Barack and I were both raised by
families who didn’t have much in the way of money or material
possessions but who had given us something far more valuable -- their
unconditional love, their unflinching sacrifice, and the chance to go
places they had never imagined for themselves. (Applause.) My
father was a pump operator at the city water plant, and he was
diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis when my brother and I were young. And
even as a kid, I knew there were plenty of days when he was in pain, and
I knew there were plenty of mornings when it was a struggle for him to
simply get out of bed. But every morning, I
watched my father wake up with a smile, grab his walker, prop himself up
against the bathroom sink, and slowly shave and button his uniform. And
when he returned home after a long day’s work, my brother and I would
stand at the top of the stairs of our little apartment, patiently
waiting to greet him, watching as he reached down to lift one leg, and
then the other, to slowly climb his way into our arms. But
despite these challenges, my dad hardly ever missed a day of work. He
and my mom were determined to give me and my brother the kind of
education they could only dream of. (Applause.) And
when my brother and I finally made it to college, nearly all of our
tuition came from student loans and grants. But my dad still had to pay a
tiny portion of that tuition himself. And every semester, he was
determined to pay that bill right on time, even taking out loans when he
fell short. He was so proud to be sending his kids to college, and he
made sure we never missed a registration deadline because his check was
late. You see, for my dad, that’s what it meant to
be a man. (Applause.) Like so many of us, that was the measure of his
success in life -- being able to earn a decent living that allowed him
to support his family. And as I got to know
Barack, I realized that even though he had grown up all the way across
the country, he’d been brought up just like me. Barack was raised by a
single mom who struggled to pay the bills, and by grandparents who
stepped in when she needed help. Barack’s grandmother started out as a
secretary at a community bank, and she moved quickly up the ranks, but
like so many women, she hit a glass ceiling. And for years, men no more
qualified than she was -- men she had actually trained -- were promoted
up the ladder ahead of her, earning more and more money while Barack’s
family continued to scrape by. But day after day,
she kept on waking up at dawn to catch the bus, arriving at work before
anyone else, giving her best without complaint or regret. And she would
often tell Barack, "So long as you kids do well, Bar, that’s all that
really matters." Like so many American families,
our families weren’t asking for much. They didn’t begrudge anyone else’s
success or care that others had much more than they did -- in fact,
they admired it. (Applause.) They simply believed in that fundamental
American promise that, even if you don’t start out with much, if you
work hard and do what you’re supposed to do, you should be able to build
a decent life for yourself and an even better life for your kids and
grandkids. That’s how they raised us (Applause.) That’s what we learned
from their example. We learned about dignity and
decency -- that how hard you work matters more than how much you make;
that helping others means more than just getting ahead yourself.
(Applause.) We learned about honesty and integrity -- that the truth
matters -- (applause) -- that you don’t take shortcuts or play by your
own set of rules; and success doesn’t count unless you earn it fair and
square. (Applause.) We learned about gratitude and humility -- that so
many people had a hand in our success, from the teachers who inspired us
to the janitors who kept our school clean. (Applause.) And we were
taught to value everyone’s contribution and treat everyone with respect. 3. Specification “The specification takes separately the thing that is sought and makes clear precisely what it is.” Specification: Those are the values that Barack and I -- and so many of you -- are trying to pass on to our own children. That’s who we are.
And standing before you four years ago, I knew that I didn’t want any
of that to change if Barack became President. Well, today, after so many
struggles and triumphs and moments that have tested my husband in ways I
never could have imagined, I have seen firsthand that being President doesn’t change who you are -- no, it reveals who you are. (Applause.) 4. Construction “The construction adds what is lacking in the given for finding what is sought.” Construction:
You see, I’ve gotten to see up close and personal what being President
really looks like. And I’ve seen how the issues that come across a
President’s desk are always the hard ones -- the problems where no
amount of data or numbers will get you to the right answer; the judgment
calls where the stakes are so high, and there is no margin for error.
And as President, you're going to get all kinds of advice from all kinds
of people. But at the end of the day, when it comes time to make that
decision, as President, all you have to guide you are your values and
your vision, and the life experiences that make you who you are.
(Applause.) 5. Proof “The proof draws the proposed inference by reasoning scientifically from the propositions that have been admitted.” Proof: So
when it comes to rebuilding our economy, Barack is thinking about folks
like my dad and like his grandmother. He’s thinking about the pride
that comes from a hard day’s work. That’s why he signed the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act to help women get equal pay for equal work.
(Applause.) That’s why he cut taxes for working families and small
businesses, and fought to get the auto industry back on its feet.
(Applause.) That’s how he brought our economy
from the brink of collapse to creating jobs again -- jobs you can raise a
family on, good jobs right here in the United States of America.
(Applause.) When it comes to the health of our
families, Barack refused to listen to all those folks who told him to
leave health reform for another day, another President. (Applause.) He
didn’t care whether it was the easy thing to do politically -- no,
that’s not how he was raised. He cared that it was the right thing to
do. (Applause.) He did it because he believes
that here in America, our grandparents should be able to afford their
medicine, our kids should be able to see a doctor when they’re sick, and
no one in this country should ever go broke because of an accident or
an illness. (Applause.) And he believes that
women are more than capable of making our own choices about our bodies
and our health care. (Applause.) That’s what my husband stands for.
(Applause.) When it comes to giving our kids the
education they deserve, Barack knows that, like me and like so many of
you, he never could have attended college without financial aid. And
believe it or not, when we were first married, our combined monthly
student loan bill was actually higher than our mortgage. (Laughter.)
Yeah, we were so young, so in love -- and so in debt. (Laughter.) And
that's why Barack has fought so hard to increase student aid and keep
interest rates down -- (applause) -- because he wants every young person
to fulfill their promise and be able to attend college without a
mountain of debt. (Applause.) So in the end,
for Barack, these issues aren’t political -- they’re personal. Because
Barack knows what it means when a family struggles. He knows what it
means to want something more for your kids and grandkids. Barack knows
the American Dream because he’s lived it. (Applause.) And he wants
everyone in this country -- everyone -- to have that same opportunity,
no matter who we are, or where we’re from, or what we look like, or who
we love. (Applause.) And he believes that when
you’ve worked hard, and done well, and walked through that doorway of
opportunity, you do not slam it shut behind you. No, you reach back,
and you give other folks the same chances that helped you succeed.
(Applause.) So when people ask me whether
being in the White House has changed my husband, I can honestly say that
when it comes to his character, and his convictions, and his heart,
Barack Obama is still the same man I fell in love with all those years
ago. (Applause.) He’s the same man who started his career by turning
down high-paying jobs and instead working in struggling neighborhoods
where a steel plant had shut down, fighting to rebuild those communities
and get folks back to work -- because for Barack, success isn’t about
how much money you make, it’s about the difference you make in people’s
lives. (Applause.) 6. Conclusion “The conclusion reverts to the enunciation, confirming what has been proved.” Conclusion: He’s
the same man, when our girls were first born, would anxiously check
their cribs every few minutes to ensure that they were still breathing
-- (laughter) -- proudly showing them off to everyone we knew. You
see, that’s the man who sits down with me and our girls for dinner
nearly every night, patiently answering questions about issues in the
news, strategizing about middle school friendships. (Laughter.) That’s
the man I see in those quiet moments late at night, hunched over his
desk, poring over the letters people have sent him. The letter from the
father struggling to pay his bills, from the woman dying of cancer whose
insurance company won’t cover her care, from the young person with so
much promise but so few opportunities. I see the
concern in his eyes and I hear the determination in his voice as he
tells me, "You won’t believe what these folks are going through,
Michelle -- it’s not right. We’ve got to keep working to fix this.
We’ve got so much more to do." (Applause.) AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years! MRS.
OBAMA: I see how those stories -- our collection of struggles and hopes
and dreams -- I see how that's what drives Barack Obama every single
day. And I didn’t think that it was possible, but
let me tell you, today I love my husband even more than I did four
years ago, even more than I did 23 years ago, when we first met.
(Applause.) Let me tell you why. See, I love that he has never forgotten
how he started. I love that we can trust Barack to do what he says he’s
going to do, even when it’s hard -- especially when it’s hard.
(Applause.) I love that for Barack, there is no
such thing as "us" and "them" -- he doesn’t care whether you’re a
Democrat, a Republican, or none of the above; he knows that we all love
our country. And he is always ready to listen to good ideas, he’s always
looking for the very best in everyone he meets. And
I love that even in the toughest moments, when we’re all sweating it --
when we’re worried that the bill won’t pass, and it seems like all is
lost -- see, Barack never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and
the noise. No, just like his grandmother, he just keeps getting up and
moving forward -- with patience and wisdom, and courage and grace.
(Applause.) And he reminds me that we are
playing a long game here, and that change is hard and change is slow,
and it never happens all at once. But eventually we get there. We always
do. We get there because of folks like my dad,
folks like Barack’s grandmother -- men and women who said to themselves,
"I may not have a chance to fulfill my dreams, but maybe my children
will, maybe my grandchildren will." See, so many
of us stand here tonight because of their sacrifice, and longing, and
steadfast love -- they swallowed their fears and doubts and did what was
hard. (Applause.) So today, when the challenges
we face start to seem overwhelming -- or even impossible -- let us never
forget that doing the impossible is the history of this nation. It is
who we are as Americans. It is how this country was built. (Applause.) And
if our parents and grandparents could toil and struggle for us -- if
they could raise beams of steel to the sky, send a man to the moon,
connect the world with the touch of a button -- then surely we can keep
on sacrificing and building for our own kids and grandkids, right?
(Applause.) And if so many brave men and women
could wear our country’s uniform and sacrifice their lives for our most
fundamental rights, then surely we can do our part as citizens of this
great democracy to exercise those rights. Surely we can get to the
polls on Election Day and make our voices heard. (Applause.) If
farmers and blacksmiths could win independence from an empire, if
immigrants could leave behind everything they knew for a better life on
our shores, if women could be dragged to jail for seeking the vote, if a
generation could defeat a depression and define greatness for all time,
if a young preacher could lift us to the mountaintop with his righteous
dream -- (applause) -- and if proud Americans can be who they are and
boldly stand at the altar with who they love -- (applause) -- then
surely, surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at
that great American Dream. (Applause.) Because in
the end, more than anything else, that is the story of this country --
the story of unwavering hope grounded in unyielding struggle. That is
what has made my story, and Barack’s story, and so many other American
stories possible. And let me tell you something. I
say all of this tonight not just as First Lady, no, not just as a wife.
You see, at the end of the day, my most important title is still
"mom-in-chief." (Applause.) My daughters are still the heart of my heart
and the center of my world. But let me tell you,
today, I have none of those worries from four years ago -- no, not
about whether Barack and I were doing what was best for our girls.
Because today, I know from experience that if I truly want to leave a
better world for my daughters -- and for all of our sons and daughters,
if we want to give all of our children a foundation for their dreams and
opportunities worthy of their promise, if we want to give them that
sense of limitless possibility -- that belief that here in America,
there is always something better out there if you’re willing to work for
it -- (applause) -- then we must work like never before. (Applause.) And
we must once again come together and stand together for the man we can
trust to keep moving this great country forward -- my husband, our
President, Barack Obama. (Applause.) Thank you. God bless you, and God bless America. (Applause.) Events Purchase Structure of Reason books. Copyright 2012 - 2016 by David Hirsch & Dan Van Haften; all rights reserved. |
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