Political Quotes

“Mr. President, earlier today, I got to spend a little time with a close friend of mine, Sam Saylor. As I was talking to Sam-- resident of Hartford, CT, the city in which I live--I was thinking about who his son Shane might be today. Shane had a tough life. Shane was born with a birth defect in which one of his arms was essentially inoperable. He grew up in really poor circumstances. He was often bullied. But Shane had a spirit about him-- a fighting spirit sometimes that got him in trouble but a spirit to rise above his circumstances, to do something with his life. His mom--strong mom--Sam's dad clearly gave him a vision of what his life could be, such that when he was 20 years old, he had started a small business. He was buying cars that needed to be rehabbed and fixed up. He would do that, and he would sell them to make a little bit of a profit. It was an extraordinary endeavor for a kid who lived that kind of life, who had those kinds of obstacles. I think about 12 years later--Shane would have been in his early thirties today. What would Shane be doing? Would he be running an autobody shop? Would he be an active member of his community? Would he be making a difference in the way that his father and his mother have? Shane could have been a life-changer, but he is not because on October 20, 12 years ago, Shane died. Shane died when he was selling one of these cars. He was meeting a prospective buyer.…”