These are opening remarks at the fifth annual Take Back America Conference in Washington, a meeting of 3,000 leaders and activists from across the country and across the tribes of the progressive movement.
Five years ago, when we started this venture, Washington was occupied territory.
Tom DeLay in the House. Bill Frist in the Senate. Bush in the White House. Karl Rove in the cat-bird seat. I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby at command central. Dick Cheney in an undisclosed location
We warned then that they would weaken America. And they did.
We pledged then that we would build an independent progressive movement to take back our country. And we did.
And now DeLay is gone. Frist is gone. Rove’s lost his genius. Libby lost his case. He won’t apologize, except to say, “Pardon me.” Bush is still here, but so lame a duck that Republican presidential candidates avoid mentioning his name. And Cheney is so clearly divorced from reality that it may turn out that undisclosed location is simply the proverbial attic where they lock up the crazy relatives.
They are done. This is our time.
