Here is what Harvard’s Scott Summers said when he officially announced Saturday that he was running for congress against 16th congressional district Republican Don Manzullo and Democrat Robert Abboud.
Summers announcement was made on Saturday at Keeling-Puri Peace Plaza in Rockford. As you can see from his words below, he is certainly trying to be the “peace candidate” in the contest.
Peace. Peace among the nations. Peace in our communities. Peace in our homes. Peace in our hearts. Peace among us all. It’s my fervent quest for peace that leads me to this place and to this moment.
I announce today my candidacy for the United States Congress as a member of the Green Party.
“America – your America, my America – is not at peace. It is instead mired in a contemptible war that is causing unspeakable agony for millions. We spill the blood of our sons and daughters. We squander our treasure.
“It’s time to end our occupation of Iraq and bring our troops home.
“It’s time for contrition. And it’s time for healing.
“But it’s not just Iraq. Earnestly, bravely, my heart brimming with hope, I say unto you: we must end all wars.
“Peace begins with us. You and me. Each of us. All of us. Here at this very place.
“I’m not a man of faith in any traditional religious sense. But I know wisdom when I see it.
“Over one hundred generations ago, the Old Testament foretold a glorious time: ‘And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; neither shall they learn war any more. Nation shall not lift sword against nation.’
“I’m fifty-eight years old now. Sadly I say that for me, the hope of seeing that time has almost completely slipped away.
“But I have two sons. And I desperately want this world to be a better place for them.
“So I begin, with with the fervent hope that my sons — they and all the children of the world — will take up our task, and finish it. ‘Neither shall they learn war anymore.’
“The toil before us is enormous. But my spirit is calm. My resolve is unwavering. The children will yet be at peace. It is our duty – our duty — to start them on their way.
“Peace begets justice. Peace begets dignity. Peace will set us free. And from peace will flow prosperity – good jobs, good schools, good health care. Without a predicate of peace, none of these are possible.
“I close with the words of Lincoln: ‘With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.'”
You can hear his delivery of the speech on his YouTube posting.
I was the 17th person to watch the video.