Rubio: ‘A Generational Shift’

American Thinker ^ | 11 Oct. 2026 | Clarice Feldman

[MtnClimber]

This week in Athens, standing in front of the Parthenon, Secretary of State Marco Rubio gave a remarkable speech which I think in time will be considered to have been an historic one. At this link, you can see a video of the speech or read the complete transcript of it.

It reminded me of an afternoon in the 1950s when taking a bus home from junior high school, I looked around and saw the Greek Orthodox kids studying Greek, the Catholic kids studying their Latin, and the Jewish kids studying Hebrew. In those days, and in that cold Wisconsin winter, parents still understood the importance of the ancient history of Western civilization, our heritage, and the great and important lessons to be learned from it. They made efforts to make sure we got it.

Rubio began by emphasizing how much the American Founding Fathers were indebted to our Greek heritage, which, in his view, gave us democracy, Western philosophy, “Our ideas of law, of virtue, of citizenship, and republican government.” Just as important, we learned from ancient Greece “the essential traits that come to define the West.” Things like “fierce individuality and restless ambition, daring exploration and invention, a yearning for discovery, for adventure, risk and glory.”

(The very notion of ancient Greece -- that the unknown can be known -- sets them (and us) apart from the barbarians in much of the world now flooding our cities, who believe everything that can be known has already been revealed and cannot be questioned or improved upon.)

Secretary Rubio accurately described the present stasis of much of the West. Where once we understood that struggle and competition were the path to excellence, the modern world has ignored this truth:

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TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: athens; claricefeldman; greece; marcorubio; rogerkimball

[MtnClimber]

I think the leftists probably did not like Rubio’s speech.

[Paladin2]

Who wrote the speech?

[ClearCase_guy]

bfl

[DIRTYSECRET]

“A republic if you can keep it.” Heard it somewhere.

Can we keep it when both parties are guilty of our $40 trillion debt?

[MtnClimber]

Who wrote the speech? The name(s) of the speech writer has not been made public. It is likely a team of writers in the State Department with subjects and key points given by Rubio. It was likely an iterative process with edits or suggestions sent back by Rubio until it was approved.

[Track9]

I believe Orestes running from the Furies and seeking redemption in Athena’s court in Athens was the archetypal trial.

[DoodleBob]

https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/secretary-of-state-marco-rubio-remarks/

Compare this with the relative sophistry uttered by Vance (https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/4393109/posts?page=69#69>.

[central_va]

Vance 28

[Taxman]

ping

[Bigg Red]

It was a phenomenal speech, to be sure. Stirring.

My only suggestion for Rubio would be to employ a speech coach, as his voice is a little thin.

[redinIllinois]

.

[ProgressingAmerica]

Rubio is surely the guy we need at this moment in time, going into 2028.

We will not likely end up that way though. Sadly.

[Macoozie]

Great speech.
But that makeup for the lights and cameras was really creepy.

[SunkenCiv]

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