Lend Me Your Ears: Great Speeches in History

by Unknown

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  I AM HAPPY to have this opportunity to talk to the people of Alabama on Christmas Day. This is the greatest day, the most revered day, of our entire calendar. It is the birthday of Christ, who was the greatest humanitarian the world has ever known.

  This is a day to talk about loving our neighbors, lending help to the less fortunate, and bringing joy to others by good work.

  We set aside Thanksgiving Day to honor the Almighty’s bountifulness to us; we celebrate the Fourth of July, which marks the freedom of our country; but on Christmas Day we pay tribute for the freedom of our souls.

  It is great to live in America, with all of its plenty and bounty—yet it behooves us not to forget that we are the most blessed people on earth. And to remember that with that greatness goes a like share of responsibility.

  The world looks to America today for leadership, for physical relief, for spiritual uplifting. These things we must provide if we are to retain our position of greatness. Because, like the foolish and the wise virgins, those who have and use not, from them their possessions shall be taken away. They will wither away because they are not used.

  This nation has prospered in many and magnificent ways, and it has done so under the freedom of a democratic government, a government in which the people retain the final source of power through their exercise of the ballot.

  The very foundation of democracy itself rests upon Christianity, upon the principles set forth by Christ himself. And I believe that it is no mere speculation to say that, without a government which guaranteed the freedom of religious worship, this nation would never have become the great America which it is today.

  So often in our democracy we have failed to make the most of the very weapons itself—that is, providing a human, decent way of life for all of our people.

  Under the extensive freedom of a democratic country, there emerges a pattern of life which creates economic barriers among the people. And as a democracy grows in years and expansiveness, there comes about a controlling minority group. That group controls because through advantages and opportunities it obtains great portions of wealth. Wealth means power and power influence. And so often that influence becomes an evil thing, in that it is used for a few, and not for the good of all. It is for that reason that we must have laws to establish control over power and authority, control over forces which are based on self-gain and exploitation. And it is necessary that we have laws to establish a measure of assistance and help for those who are not able to grub out a meager, respectable living.

  And so we founded in this country great and far-reaching welfare programs. These programs were not created, nor are they operated, as a great leveler, but rather as an obligation of a democracy to its people, in order that the unfortunate may feast on more than crumbs and clothe themselves with more than rags.

  What has gone before us in the way of welfare work exemplifies rich rewards of human endeavor. But we are actually just becoming of age, just beginning to scratch the surface in fulfilling the needs which are so widespread. So long as we have a person hungry, ill clothed, or without medical aid, we can take no pride in what has been done.

  It is good at Christmas for us to turn our thoughts to the neglected, because Christmas is a time to think of others and not of ourselves. It is a time for us to ask questions of our inner self.

  It is indeed a proud thing to know that the people of this state are concerned enough about these questions to vote a giant hospital-building program which will extend into every county in Alabama. This program is one of the greatest things that has ever happened in Alabama, and its effect will be such as to make for a far healthier and happier people.

  Our Negroes, who constitute 35 percent of our population in Alabama—are they getting 35 percent of the fair share of living? Are they getting adequate medical care to rid them of hookworms, rickets, and social diseases? Are they provided with sufficient professional training which will produce their own doctors, professors, lawyers, clergymen, scientists—men and women who can pave the way for better health, greater earning powers, and a higher standard of living for all of their people? Are the Negroes being given their share of democracy, the same opportunity of having a voice in the government under which they live?

  As long as the Negroes are held down by deprivation and lack of opportunity, the other poor people will be held down alongside them.

  There are others, too, who should share in our thoughts of the neglected—wounded veterans, the blind, the shut-ins, the crippled, and on and on.

  The job for us here in Alabama is a positive one. It is time for us to adopt a positive attitude toward our fellowman.

  Let’s start talking fellowship and brotherly love and doing-unto-others, and let’s do more than talk about it—let’s start living it.

  In the past few years there has been too much negative living, too much stirring up of old hatreds, and prejudices, and false alarms. And the best way in the world to break this down is to lend our ears to the teachings of Christianity and the ways of democracy.

  We must all constantly strive to put our democracy to fuller service for our people in order that all may be more richly rewarded with the fullness of the earth.

  And certainly that is in keeping with the spirit of Christ, who said, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

  I hope the time will soon come when nations are brought together by the spirit of Christmas in much the same manner in which families join in reunion during the Holy Week.

  People feel better when they gather together for the sake of love and fellowship. Their hearts are cleansed and kindled by the warm fire of eternal goodness. Nothing but good comes out of people at Christmastime—and that is how it should be at all times.

  The great carpenter of Bethlehem showed us the way more than two thousand years ago, and yet we have learned so little from his teachings.

  Before lasting peace will ever prevail in this world, nations have got to respect the laws of human decency which Christ preached in his teachings. Nations have got to become as families. They have got to gather around the Cross of Christianity if good is ever to triumph over evil. And before nations can do that, the leaders of nations must be fired with the challenge to see that equal justice, equal opportunity, and equal freedom become a reality for every man, woman, and child.

  I believe that the people of all nations, the people of Alabama, the people of China, Africa, Russia, and tiny Luxembourg—I believe that all of them want to see lasting peace and goodness on this earth. And it is that great desire in the hearts of the people that gives me hope for a brighter future, a world without constant warfare, suffering, and distress.

  I believe that such a goal is within our grasp—that it can become a force real and wonderful for all people, if we will set our hearts and our minds to that end.

  It has been a humble privilege for me to talk with you today. I appreciate the opportunity from the bottom of my heart.

  And now, this is your governor, wishing for each and every one of you a goodly share of Christmas spirit, a table filled with the fruits of the earth, and a heart filled with love of the little babe of Bethlehem.

  Senator Margaret Chase Smith Issues a “Declaration of Conscience” against Senator Joseph McCarthy

  “I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear.”

  “Twenty years of treason” and “soft on communism” were the phrases that Republican senator Joseph McCarthy threw against entrenched Democrats in 1950. “Tail Gunner Joe” exploited a suspicion—justified in the case of Alger Hiss and a few others—that the Communist conspiracy reached high into the U.S. government.

  The Democratic counterattack was against “McCarthyism,” a derogation of the Wisconsin senator’s blunderbuss methods. On June 1, 1950, the only woman in the Senate—Margaret Chase Smith, of Maine—led seven Republican senators in a “Declaration of Conscience” diss
ociating themselves from the intimidating McCarthy crusade and joining the attack on McCarthyism.

  Mrs. Smith organized the declaration tightly, speaking “as a Republican… as a woman… as a United States senator… as an American” and constructing her speech to make each “as” a point of departure. The declaration was hailed by liberals and moderates of both parties, but not until 1954 was Senator McCarthy censured by the Senate for his excess of zeal in denouncing Communists.

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  MR. PRESIDENT, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership either in the legislative branch or the executive branch of our government. That leadership is so lacking that serious and responsible proposals are being made that national advisory commissions be appointed to provide such critically needed leadership.

  I speak as briefly as possible because too much harm has already been done with irresponsible words of bitterness and selfish political opportunism. I speak as simply as possible because the issue is too great to be obscured by eloquence. I speak simply and briefly in the hope that my words will be taken to heart.

  Mr. President, I speak as a Republican. I speak as a woman. I speak as a United States senator. I speak as an American.

  The United States Senate has long enjoyed worldwide respect as the greatest deliberative body in the world. But recently that deliberative character has too often been debased to the level of a forum of hate and character assassination sheltered by the shield of congressional immunity.

  It is ironical that we senators can in debate in the Senate, directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to any American who is not a senator any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming an American—and without that nonsenator American having any legal redress against us—yet if we say the same thing in the Senate about our colleagues we can be stopped on the grounds of being out of order.

  It is strange that we can verbally attack anyone else without restraint and with full protection, and yet we hold ourselves above the same type of criticism here on the Senate floor. Surely the United States Senate is big enough to take self-criticism and self-appraisal. Surely we should be able to take the same kind of character attacks that we “dish out” to outsiders.

  I think that it is high time for the United States Senate and its members to do some real soul-searching and to weigh our consciences as to the manner in which we are performing our duty to the people of America and the manner in which we are using or abusing our individual powers and privileges.

  I think it is high time that we remembered that we have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution. I think it is high time that we remembered that the Constitution, as amended, speaks not only of the freedom of speech but also of trial by jury instead of trial by accusation.

  Whether it be a criminal prosecution in court or a character prosecution in the Senate, there is little practical distinction when the life of a person has been ruined.

  Those of us who shout the loudest about Americanism in making character assassinations are all too frequently those who, by our own words and acts, ignore some of the basic principles of Americanism—the right to criticize; the right to hold unpopular beliefs; the right to protest; the right of independent thought.

  The exercise of these rights should not cost one single American citizen his reputation or his right to a livelihood, nor should he be in danger of losing his reputation or livelihood merely because he happens to know someone who holds unpopular beliefs. Who of us does not? Otherwise none of us could call our souls our own. Otherwise thought control would have set in.

  The American people are sick and tired of being afraid to speak their minds lest they be politically smeared as Communists or Fascists by their opponents. Freedom of speech is not what it used to be in America. It has been so abused by some that it is not exercised by others.

  The American people are sick and tired of seeing innocent people smeared and guilty people whitewashed. But there have been enough proved cases, such as the Amerasia case, the Hiss case, the Coplon case, the Gold case, to cause nationwide distrust and strong suspicion that there may be something to the unproved, sensational accusations.

  As a Republican, I say to my colleagues on this side of the aisle that the Republican party faces a challenge today that is not unlike the challenge which it faced back in Lincoln’s day. The Republican party so successfully met that challenge that it emerged from the Civil War as the champion of a united nation—in addition to being a party which unrelentingly fought loose spending and loose programs.

  Today our country is being psychologically divided by the confusion and the suspicions that are bred in the United States Senate to spread like cancerous tentacles of “know nothing, suspect everything” attitudes. Today we have a Democratic administration which has developed a mania for loose spending and loose programs. History is repeating itself—and the Republican party again has the opportunity to emerge as the champion of unity and prudence.

  The record of the present Democratic administration has provided us with sufficient campaign issues without the necessity of resorting to political smears. America is rapidly losing its position as leader of the world simply because the Democratic administration has pitifully failed to provide effective leadership.

  The Democratic administration has completely confused the American people by its daily contradictory grave warnings and optimistic assurances, which show the people that our Democratic administration has no idea of where it is going.

  The Democratic administration has greatly lost the confidence of the American people by its complacency to the threat of communism here at home and the leak of vital secrets to Russia through key officials of the Democratic administration. There are enough proved cases to make this point without diluting our criticism with unproved charges.

  Surely these are sufficient reasons to make it clear to the American people that it is time for a change and that a Republican victory is necessary to the security of the country. Surely it is clear that this nation will continue to suffer so long as it is governed by the present ineffective Democratic administration.

  Yet to displace it with a Republican regime embracing a philosophy that lacks political integrity or intellectual honesty would prove equally disastrous to the nation. The nation sorely needs a Republican victory. But I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny—fear, ignorance, bigotry, and smear.

  I doubt if the Republican party could do so, simply because I do not believe the American people will uphold any political party that puts political exploitation above national interest. Surely we Republicans are not so desperate for victory.

  I do not want to see the Republican party win that way. While it might be a fleeting victory for the Republican party, it would be a more lasting defeat for the American people. Surely it would ultimately be suicide for the Republican party and the two-party system that has protected our American liberties from the dictatorship of a one-party system.

  As members of the minority party, we do not have the primary authority to formulate the policy of our government. But we do have the responsibility of rendering constructive criticism, of clarifying issues, of allaying fears by acting as responsible citizens.

  As a woman, I wonder how the mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters feel about the way in which members of their families have been politically mangled in Senate debate—and I use the word “debate” advisedly.

  As a United States senator, I am not proud of the way in which the Senate has been made a publicity platform for irresponsible sensationalism. I am not proud of the reckless abandon in which unproved charges have been hurled from this side of the aisle. I am not proud of the obviously staged, undignified countercharges, which have been attempted in retaliation from the other
side of the aisle.

  I do not like the way the Senate has been made a rendezvous for vilification, for selfish political gain at the sacrifice of individual reputations and national unity. I am not proud of the way we smear outsiders from the floor of the Senate and hide behind the cloak of congressional immunity and still place ourselves beyond criticism on the floor of the Senate.

  As an American, I am shocked at the way Republicans and Democrats alike are playing directly into the Communist design of “confuse, divide, and conquer.” As an American, I do not want a Democratic administration whitewash or cover-up any more than I want a Republican smear or witch-hunt.

  As an American, I condemn a Republican Fascist just as much as I condemn a Democrat Communist. I condemn a Democrat Fascist just as much as I condemn a Republican Communist. They are equally dangerous to you and me and to our country. As an American, I want to see our nation recapture the strength and unity it once had when we fought the enemy instead of ourselves….

  Vice-President Albert Gore Slams the Cynics and Asserts His Credo

  “The root of the word ‘cynic’ is the same as the Greek word for ‘dog,’ and some scholars say the Cynics got their name because they barked at society. Sounds almost like some of our talk-radio shows.”

  Son of a liberal senator from Tennessee, Al Gore graduated from Harvard and served in Vietnam, returned to become a reporter and editorial writer for the Nashville Tennessean, served in the House and Senate from that state, and was chosen to be Bill Clinton’s running mate in 1992 and 1996.