Clinton addresses global concerns

Former President Bill Clinton spoke Thursday night to a sold-out
audience at the Los Angeles Music Center about global issues and
the role of the United States in the world.

Focusing on concerns such as the conflicts in the Middle East
and the tsunami after-effects in Southeast Asia, the former
president talked about the idea of global interdependency,
referring to the interconnectedness of the modern world as a
platform for global progress.

The speaker series at the music center, which featured two
Clinton lectures on consecutive nights, was designed to
“establish a valuable and engaging civic forum for the
exchange of ideas and opinions,” said Stephen D. Roundtree,
president of the music center, in a press release.

Clinton advocated ideals of “shared responsibility, shared
values and shared benefits” as lenses to view the world
through, as events across the globe impact the country.

“We all need some way to think about disparate
events,” he said.

“We cannot escape each other,” Clinton explained,
citing the events of Sept. 11 and the worldwide response to the
tsunami disaster as examples of opposite sides of the independency
spectrum.

Continuing to talk about the United States’s role in the
world, Clinton explained how “we have to keep making America
a model” in order to promote a mentality of global
responsibility.

Critical of current policy, Clinton said that four years of
large tax cuts, half of which directly benefitted the wealthiest 1
percent of the country, were not consistent with shared
responsibility. He focused instead on optimism, citing recent
examples of U.S. donations to tsunami relief efforts and President
Bush’s recent pledges to allot money to AIDS relief as
examples of the “shared responsibility” he saw in the
country.

Clinton implored the audience to move past the bitter
partisanship that has divided this country. Referring to recent
campaign tactics used by groups like Swift Boat Veterans For Truth,
Clinton said, “I don’t blame them (for the election
results). I blame us. They’ll stop when it doesn’t
work.”

Referring to issues often tied to religious beliefs, like
abortion and gay marriage, Clinton added, “We Democrats make
a big mistake when we act like we’re afraid to talk about
it.”

The speech was met with enthusiastic responses from the often
electric crowd, as Clinton frequently paused amid encouraging
shouts and loud cheers.

“Cool it or I might think I’m still in
office,” he joked with the audience as he was welcomed with
thunderous applause.

The speech was followed with a question-and-answer session in
which Clinton encouraged optimism about the future of the world
even with concerns over nuclear proliferation, terrorism and the
weakening national economy.

“The United States always does the right thing, after
exhausting all other alternatives,” Clinton said, quoting
Winston Churchill.

He ended the lecture on a positive note, urging people to
transcend personal boundaries in order to work together.

“We’re all a little red and a little blue and we
have a lot more in common than we think we do.” Clinton
said.