Charlie's speech (transcript) Part 2

Let me diverge for a second and do something that's more typical of a campaign speech, and tell you what I'm for. Now, most people have platforms. And there's a sort of game politicians play. I'm a political scientist so I certainly know about the whole way of electioneering to get into office--something, by the way, that our founders *feared*, and wanted to set up up on a different model.

And "they" say, "Only give the people three things, because that's all they can handle". Well, I believe you can handle a little bit more than that, so I have what I call "The 6 Es". These are the things that I stand for aggressively, firmly, and without hesitation. Now, they're not everything, but I believe that these are the most important.

And the first set of three are the ones that almost no one in government office is standing up and fighting for, and they are the most important. And that is ethics, education, and empowerment. That is the foundation of a good form of government. In the state of Florida, we have a very powerful ethics law adopted by the people via a consititutional amendment, yet it has been eroded and ignored. We have the foxes guarding the henhouse in our ethics commission. This is intolerable.

We have a famous "sunshine" set of laws, open government and public records laws, and they are under attack. They are ignored in local government. They are destroyed in the state legislature, and the governor doesn't care one thing about your right to be part of the process. They look at you as subjects, not as citizens.

And the most important thing for a citizenry is education. If we cannot understand how to critically evaluate arguments and concepts, if we don't know our own history, if we don't know the principles of our government, how are we supposed to defend them as citizens. Forty-eighth in the nation in one of the largest, wealthiest, fastest-growing states is simply unacceptable! (Applause.) Teachers are not the problem, students are not the problem, and the schools are not the problem. The problem lies in Tallahassee, and yes, the problem also lies with us, because we allow the people in Tallahassee to neglect their responsibilities. We need to stand up and made education a top priority. I am here to fight to make this the education state.

Empowerment. Well that gets to the heart of it. That's what it means to be a citizen. It means that your voice is heard. It means that your voice is part of the process. Yet we in the state of Florida are known for what? Fraudulent elections. We're known for it from 2000 to 2004 and those of you who know what's going on in Alachua have seen that it goes on to this day.

This is intolerable! Do you know that in the Bush v. Gore decision in 2000, the Supreme Court of the United States declared that you, the people, do not have a right to vote for the President of the United States, constitutionally guaranteed? Why do we have flag burning amendments, gay marriage amendments--why don't we have a Right to Vote Amendment? (Applause) I mean, think about it, *that's* what the amendments to the Constitution are supposed to be about!

We the people need to become empowered in order to rule again, and we need leaders in Tallahassee and Washington D.C. who will help us get there.

Part 3, the second set of Es Charlie mentioned, will be up later tonight.

Alternate link for comments