Biden "At the Tipping Point"

At the Tipping Point: Democratization in the Middle East by Senator Joseph Biden (printable version)

An absolute must read, not just of the day, but probably of the post-9/11, post-Iraqi Freedom era. Senator Joe Biden was awarded the inaugural Harry Truman Award by the Democratic Leadership Council and his speech is a masterpeice ....

The great struggle of our time -- the struggle between freedom and radical Islamic fundamentalism -- is primarily a war of ideas and ideals.

There are 1.2 billion Muslims in the world. The vast, vast majority of them are not radical. But they don't know of our ideas and our ideals. They only know of our military power.

To prevail, we clearly have to be strong militarily. But we also have to be smart, welding the force of our ideas and our ideals together with the force of our arms.

The spread of democracy is crucial to us winning that war and undercutting the ideology of radical Islamic fundamentalism.

But democracy is more than just about elections. Our goal must be to help build and support the institutions of liberal democracy. That takes time. It takes money. And it takes courage. It is a generational challenge.

If we begin the process, the generation behind us, the so--called X and Y Generations, is smarter, more capable and more patriotic than any generation before it. And they will finish the job, but we are going to have to start it.

I believe we are literally at the hinge of history.

I believe that our military power is necessary, but not sufficient, to change the world. It will be our ideas and our ideals -- the things we value, the things we stand for, the same things that brought the Berlin Wall down -- that will nudge the world toward more freedom and democracy.

And we do it for our own safety's sake as well as the sake of the people who would be free, for only a few generations, a very few generations, have been delivered to such a moment, such an opportunity.

As another Irish poet, Seamus Heaney, wrote in his poem The Cure at Troy: "History said don't hope of this side of the grave. But then, once in a lifetime, the longed for tidal wave of justice rises up, and hope and history rhyme."

We have an opportunity to make hope and history rhyme. Let's seize it.

This is among the initial, and most notable speeches holding Bush's feet to the fire for democracy promotion. Biden calls Bush to the carpet for a lack of willingness to put his money where his mouth is regarding his second Inaugural speech.

Yet, ironically, had this speech been given by a certain Senator from Connecticut, I suspect this little ditty would have stood out:

I was a little frustrated by some of my Democratic colleagues and some of our friends around the world. Here's the headline from the leading Green newspaper in Germany, and I quote the headline: "Bush threatens more freedom." It seemed to me that distaste for the messenger has obscured the truth of his message.

We'll just sit back and wait to see how many Kossacks out there pick up on this. Of course, it must also break their hearts that Biden isn't distancing himself from the DLC. So be it.

Biden's speech is right on the money in applauding the good, critiquing the bad, and moving forward. Read the whole thing ....