“Our noble country sees potential not only when we are at our best but when we are at our worst. When we are broken or inadequate or insufficient. When we fall short or do wrong or don’t measure up.

When we suffer not because we are failures but because we are human. And because there is nothing more universal to our brief experience here on Earth than the fact that each of us will feel the sky fall. We offer mercy because at some point we will need it too.

For generations this has been a higher calling that has united Americans across the aisle. It was the patriotic edict laid out by President George W. Bush in his first inaugural address saying,

‘I can pledge our nation to a goal: when we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side.’

But today I tell you in no uncertain terms that this collective commitment to dignity is at risk.

We cannot write it off, we cannot pretend it’s otherwise, we cannot relegate it to “politics” with an eye roll or a sign because it is infiltrating every inch of American life, and we know that. You and I feel it. Deep within us and all around us.

This new guard in Washington isn’t just targeting the laws that protect us – they are targeting the very idea that we are all worth protecting.”