Naomi Klein: The Financial Crisis Presents a Huge Opportunity for Change -- We Can't Let Obama Blow It

The above is the text of Naomi Klein's speech to the Momentum Plenary at the America's Future Now conference in Washington. It has been edited for length and clarity.

[The previous speech by activist Gabriela Sanchez] made me think of this idea of whether we should have Obama's back, or whether we should be pushing him further. You know Bob says both, and I think that's a good answer, but I also want to say something else, which is, Rahm Emanuel has Barack Obama's back. He is a great politician, Obama. He's doing fine and has people like Gabriela Sanchez and the people who work with her, who need us to have their back. It's a basic principle. A solidarity.

The president of the most powerful country in the world is doing all right. But there are a lot of people in this country who are not doing all right, and we need to rediscover these basic principles of solidarity in this moment more than any other.