I Learned That The People Who Have

When I Spoke At The St. Lawrence Seaway Ceremonies In 1969, I Borrowed Some Words From The Monument There Which I Had Joined Queen Elizabeth In Dedicating Just 10 Years Before. That Monument, As Its Inscription Puts It, 'bears Witness To The Common Purpose Of Two Nations Whose Frontiers Are The Frontiers Of Friendship, Whose Ways Are The Ways Of Freedom, Whose Works Are The Works Of Peace'.

I'll Speak For The Man, Or Against Him, Whichever Will Do Him The Most Good.

Most Days I Feel Like The Sole Survivor Of A Shipwreck, Rowing My Paddleboat Across A Sea Of People On Waves Made Of An Infinite Array Of Hands And Crests That Reveal Anonymous Faces. On A Good Day, The Clouds Part To Alight On-lo And Behold-an Island! I Step Ashore, Only Find That It Too Is Made Of People, Mangled Bodies Somehow Still Alive. They Grab At My Feet, Pulling Me Under Like Quicksand. The Last Thing I See Before Suffocating Is The Sky, A Billion Eyes Staring Down, Blinking In Undulating Electric Ripples. The Cold Rain I Feel On My Cheeks Is The Tears Of The People.

Let Us Build Bridges, My Friends, Build Bridges To Human Dignity Across That Gulf That Separates Black America From White America.

We Must Recognize That The Goal Of A Cleaner Environment Will Not Be Achieved By Rhetoric Or Moral Dedication Alone. It Will Not Be Cheap Or Easy And The Costs Will Have To Be Borne By Each Citizen, Consumer And Taxpayer. How Clean Is Clean Enough Can Only Be Answered In Terms Of How Much We Are Willing To Pay And How Soon We Seek Success... It Is Simplistic To Seek Ecological Perfection At The Cost Of Bankrupting The Very Tax-paying Enterprises Which Must Pay For The Social Advances We Seek.