http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2008/01/99624.htm
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MWE3MGEwMjZhYTQyMzQ3YWIzMWZkZDRhNWQyYTc5MTk=&w=MA==
(go down to the bottom of page one)
"......The overflowing audience — many are forced to stand, lining the walls — listens with quiet and respect. When Rice’s name was first mentioned, someone nearby me hissed. But, thereafter, no such demonstrations. And Rice gives an excellent speech. I agree with nearly every word of it, but that is not my point (quite). It is, plain and simple, an excellent speech: bracing, stirring, a tonic, something needed. Something that really hits the spot.
I will do some extensive quoting of the speech, and a little commenting. Rice says that, in thinking about her speech for this audience, “I decided to do something risky: I want to talk about the importance of ideals and I want to talk about the need for optimism [about] their power.
“Now, I know that whenever Americans start talking about idealism and optimism, international audiences groan.” I hear some appreciative chuckles. “Perhaps there is a little concern that you’re going to hear a long, moralizing lecture. Well, I promise not to do that.” And she doesn’t, unfortunately. (Just kidding.) (Mainly.)
“And another common concern when Americans talk of idealism and optimism is, ‘Well, there they go again,’ the innocents abroad. Indeed, there is a long international tradition of viewing America as kind of young and naïve. Well, in our defense, I would just say we’re not that young. And if you are tempted to think that we are naïve, then you should hope that Bismarck was right when he said, ‘God has a special providence for fools, drunks, and the United States of America.’”
......and it gets much better. Folks the speech and Jay's comments are worth a read.
"....Some time later, I’m sitting in a café, overhearing a conversation between an East Asian lady and an American man. I’m not eavesdropping; it just can’t be helped. The lady is saying how much she admired Rice’s speech. She also says that it was a brave one, given the dislike of America throughout the world. It was obvious, she says, that Rice had pride in being an American. And the man answers with his own reaction to the speech: “It made me proud to be an American.”
I have not heard that phrase in a long, long while — I mean, without irony. And the man uttered it without any irony at all. The secretary of state’s address had simply made him proud to be an American. Will wonders never cease?