John Flannery 1984
In 1984, I was running for Congress, as the Democratic nominee for the 10th Congressional district, standing on the floor of the Democratic convention in San Francisco, when New York Governor Mario Cuomo challenged the convention and the nation to get on with the business of the American people. What he said then remains as urgent today.
As it was true of President Ronald Reagan, we shall soon experience a Republican leadership in our U.S. Congress who invoke the golden rule but their actions and words tell us that what they really believe is “social Darwinism” that, as the Governor said then, means the nation “should settle for taking care of the strong and hope that economic ambition and charity will do the rest,” so that “what falls from the table will be enough for the middle class and those who are trying desperately to work their way into the middle class.”
Republicans who so easily invoke Judeo-Christian “values” believe, not what Jesus said in his Sermon on the Mount, namely, that the meek shall inherit the earth, but that only the strong shall.
I believe, as the Governor said then, that “we can make it all the way with the whole family [of men and women, children and seniors] intact.” This is a more worthy legacy for public service than what we’ve been getting. Millions now have health care who didn’t. The Republican leadership looks to deny that coverage. Continue reading