Charlie's speech (transcript) Part 3

All three parts of Charlie's speech can be found as a single post here. And Charlie has added some alternative video formats here for anyone who was unable to get the Quicktime version to play.

Now my second set of Es, I'm going to give to you very quickly. These are the more traditional, policy-oriented ones. And the three most important important ones that I think--and they're not exclusive--but energy, environment, and employment.

We all know what we are doing to this nation and to this world by our dependence upon fossil fuels. Why cannot we as a state lead the nation in creating new jobs and new technologies to bring *new* alternative sources of energy into reality? (Cheers and applause.) And that ties right hand in hand with the environment, which used to be this state's number one resource, and our number one source of income. And yet we are letting that heritage just be destroyed left and right, as south Florida's developers move up here, as they no longer have lands to exploit down there. This is the last bastion of what was left of Florida once, and we have a duty to fight to preserve it. (Cheers and applause).

And last but not least is employment because we constantly hear both Democrats and Republicans talking about jobs, and bringing Wal*Mart and "big box" stores from Bentenville, Arkansas, and telling you to give $2 million, $5 million, a billion dollars in tax benefits and exemptions to these multi-million dollar corporations. They can afford to come here and give us jobs on their own--they don't need our subsidies! Why don't we invest in ourselves? Employment should mean *ownership*, not a system where we are robbin' the hood, stealing from the poor to give to the rich through our tax dollars.

The Republicans call it when you give it directly to the people, redistribution and socialism, but somehow, if we put a corporate middleman, it becomes acceptable, and legitimate, and the American way?! That's nonsense! We need to take back the language and the rhetoric of our country.

The problem, ladies and gentlemen, is the game that politics has become, and the only solution to this, locally, state, and nationally, is to stop playing the electioneering game, and start standing up and fighting for your rights, and that means you as citizens, and anybody running for office, and let's join together, as a team, to take back this country. Let's remember that Democracy is when the people rule for the common and public good, not for the private interests of the few. Let's remember that citizenship is, indeed, the highest office. And I encourage each and every one of you to go by my booth and pick up a card about the Alachua Project, because let's start taking back our country one city at a time!

Part 1
Part 2

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