(Via Milinet)
- A Speech Re-Examined
Excerpts from his Acceptance Speech at the 1964 Republican
National
Convention in San Fransisco, California
In July of 1964, Barry Goldwater was labeled "extremist" and
"dangerous" by
his political opponents. They repeatedly used a line in his
acceptance
speech, "Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice" as
evidence of this.
Indeed, in the aftermath of his death, this quote has been, and
will no doubt
continue to be, quoted extensively. Yet, what did he actually
believe, and
what did he say in this speech which would back up the charge of
"extremism"?
Several excerpts of this speech (below) will illustrate how he
viewed the
world of 1964 and the future of the world, as he hoped it would
become.
=======
. On Vietnam:
"It has been during Democratic years that we have weakly
stumbled into
conflict- timidly refusing to draw our own lines against
aggression-
deceitfully refusing to tell even our own people of our full
participation-
and tragically letting our finest men die on battlefields
unmarked by
purpose, pride or prospect of victory. Yesterday it was Korea.
Tonight, it is
Vietnam. Make no bones of this. Don't try to sweep this under
the rug. We are
at war in Vietnam. And yet the president, who is the Commander
in Chief of
our forces, refuses to say- refuses to say, mind you- whether or
not the
objective over there is victory, and his Secretary of Defense
continues to
mislead and misinform the American people.
================
On the future fall of Communism and European Union:
"I believe that we must look beyond the defense of freedom today
to its
extension tomorrow. I believe that the communism which boasts it
will bury us
will instead give way to the forces of freedom. And I can see in
the distant
and yet recognizable future the outlines of a world worthy our
dedication,
our every risk, our every effort, our every sacrifice along the
way. Yes, a
world that will redeem the suffering of those will be liberated
from tyranny.
I can see, and I suggest that all thoughtful men must
contemplate, the
flowering of an Atlantic civilization, the whole of Europe
reunified and
free, trading openly across its borders, communicating openly
across the
world. This goal is far far more meaningful than a moon shot-
it's a truly
aspiring goal for all free men to set for themselves during the
latter half
of the twentieth century."
====================
On Free Trade, NAFTA and Globalism:
"I can see a day when all the Americas, North and South, will be
linked in a
mighty system- a system in which the errors and
misunderstandings of the past
will be submerged one by one in a rising tide of prosperity and
interdependence.
We know that the misunderstandings of centuries are not to be
wiped away in a
day or wiped away in an hour. But we pledge, we pledge, that
human sympathy-
what our neighbors to the south call an attitude of simpatico-
no less than
enlightened self'-interest will be our guide. And I can see this
Atlantic
civilization galvanizing and guiding emergent nations
everywhere."
========================
On Diversity:
"We see and cherish diversity of ways, diversity of thoughts, of
motives and
accomplishments. We do not seek to live anyone's life for him-
we seek only
to secure his rights, guarantee him opportunity to strive, with
government
performing only those needed and Constitutionally-sanctioned
tasks which
cannot otherwise be performed. ... "Thus do we seek
inventiveness, diversity,
and creative difference within a stable order...." Balance,
diversity,
creative difference- these are the elements of the Republican
equation.
Republicans agree on these elements and they heartily agree to
disagree on
many, many of their applications. This party is for free men-
not for blind
followers and not for conformists."
==============
The Oft-Quoted "Extremism" quote - in context:
"And let our Republicanism, so focused and so dedicated, not be
made fuzzy
and futile by unthinking and stupid labels. Extremism in the
defense of
liberty is no vice. Moderation in the pursuit of justice is no
virtue. The
beauty of the very system we Republicans are pledged to restore
and
revitalize, the beauty of this Federal system of ours, is in its
reconciliation of diversity and unity. We must not see malice in
honest
differences of opinion, no matter how great, so long as they are
not
inconsistent with the pledges we have given to each other in and
through the
Constitution. Our Republican cause is not to level out the world
or to make
its people conform in computer-regimented sameness. Our
Republican cause is
to free our people and light the way for liberty throughout the
world. Ours
is a very human cause for very humane goals."
==================
Barry Goldwater was truly a man before his time.
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