Valerie Plame is employed by the Central Intelligence Agency, a fact known outside the agency to no one except her husband and parents. She is an agent involved in a number of sensitive and sometimes dangerous covert operations overseas. Her husband, Joseph C. Wilson, is a diplomat who most recently has served as a U.S. ambassador to Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe. Due to his extensive background, Wilson is approached by Plame's CIA colleagues to travel to Niger and glean information as to whether yellowcake uranium is being procured by Iraq for use in the construction of nuclear weasons. Wilson determines to his own satisfaction that it is not. After military action is taken by George W. Bush, who justifies it in a 2003 State of the Union address by alluding to the uranium's use in building weapons of mass destruction, Wilson submits an op-ed piece to the New York Times claiming these reports to be categorically untrue.
Speech text:
"How many of you know the 16 words in President Bush's State of the Union Address that led us to war? (none) How many know my wife's name? (everyone)
How can you know one, and not the other? When did the question move from "Why are we going to war" to "Who is this man's wife?"
I asked the first question and someone else asked the second. And it worked. Because none of us know the truth. The offence that was committed was not committed against me, it was not committed against my wife – it was committed against you. All of you.
If that makes you angry or feel misrepresented, do something about it.
When Benjamin Franklin left Independence Hall, just after the second draft of it, he was approached by a woman on the street, the woman said, ‘Mr Franklin, what manner of government have you bequeathed us? And Franklin said, ‘A Republic madam… if you can keep it.’
The responsibility of a country is not in the hands of a privileged few. We are strong and we are free from tyranny as long as each one of us remembers his or her duty as a citizen. Whether it’s to report a pothole at the top of your street, or lies in a State of The Union Address, speak out!
Ask those questions. Demand that truth. Democracy is not a free ride man, I’m here to tell you.
But this is where we live. And if we do our job, this is where our children will live. God Bless America."
Link to video clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKbpLDdw4KU
Links to content discussed in the podcast: https://www.dramaclasses.biz/the-stanislavski-system
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855
https://prezi.com/-ejibzd_s82r/sean-penn-fair-game-speech/
Thanks for listening, feel free to reach out with your questions and until next time. 🎈👇