Utah Mayor Speaks Truth To Power

In case you missed it, a link to the full text of Salt Lake City's mayor "Rocky" Anderson's speech on August 30:

And an excerpt:

"A patriot is a person who loves his or her country.

" Who among you loves your country so much that you have come here today to raise your voice out of deep concern for our nation — and our world?

" And who among you loves your country so much that you insist that our nation's leaders tell us the truth?

" So let's hear it: 'Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth! Give us the truth!' Because if we had had the truth, we wouldn't be here today.

" Let no one deny we are patriots. We support our nation's troops. Let's hear it for our nation's troops! We have so many veterans here today.

" Let's here it for the veterans! We are grateful to our veterans who have sacrificed so much for our freedoms. We love our country, we hold dear the values upon which our nation was founded, and we are distressed at what our President, our administration, and our Congress are doing to, and in the name of, our nation.

" So to James Evans and these folks who financed this massive radio campaign these last few days, let them understand that blind faith in bad leaders is not patriotism. A patriot does not tell people who are intensely concerned about their country to just sit down and be quiet; to refrain from speaking out in the name of politeness or for the sake of being a good host; to show slavish, blind obedience and deference to a dishonest, war-mongering, human-rights-violating president."