Sobriety. Larry thank you. Many appreciations to the first lady. State say too much. My story has been out there for many years. I would just say when the president and the first lady offered me this addition, which is the greatest honor of my professional life. And ive stayed a lot longer than probably a lot of people thought i would. It would not have been possible. It would not have been remotely possible. It would have been unthinkable that i could have occupy such a job 25 years ago. Unthinkable. I was a hopeless abuser of alcohol and drugs. I had tried several times unsuccessfully to get sober. Like a lot of my peers and friends, i went through bloody hell and suffered significant consequences. Im not alone. Most of us had the same troubles. And i was unemployed. But by the grace of god, i did stay married. My wife is a saint. Weve been married 34 years its a miracle. It was difficult the whole story was difficult having said that. I will offer this. It is because of my stubbornness and willfulness and the difficulties and consequences and the fact that i had to learn how to change my behavior. And follow a few simple steps or guidelines. I believe sincerely today that it probably was the best thing that ever happened to me. Because it forced me to change and to seek a new path and return to faith. I might not have said it at the time. But more and more, ive come to realize it down through the years. And so its an honor for me to be with fellow suffering alcoholics and employers and i will just say to you, you know, you will, you can get sober. You can. For those who are still sick and suffering, you can. Its not easy, but you can get sober and you can stay sober and you can lead a productive life and most importantly, hopefully like myself, we can learn to help other people get sober and stay sober so they can be productive and contribute to society and to life. I think its a phenomenal thing the first lady has engaged herself in this battle. Phenomenal. But youre pretty phenomenal. You know ive said that and actually written that and come in columns down through the years. So its my pleasure and honor to be here with you today the president has been remarkable. Ive known him for many years. He brought me into this position. I didnt ask for it. Ive served them to the best of my ability. Hes been remarkable to me. Weve great discussions sometimes, even debates. Hes a remarkable man and if i get time off for Good Behavior and write another book and when i write about that because i sincerely believe. But ill also say this. Drawing from what first lady said about loneliness and sadness, theres nothing as bad as that. You try to do good but you cant. And for me, and i will kind of borrow a paraphrase from the big book of alcoholics anonymous. It became clearer and clearer in my life that i was hopeless alcoholic. And it also became clear in my life that no human power could restore me to sanity. But i learned, finally, that god could and would if he were saw. And i saw tim. Salt him sought him. Whether its a higher power or some religious power, the fact is i had to acknowledge my problems my frailties my powerlessness over drugs and alcohol and just start over with the help of others. And to this day, and i mean this truly, to this day, in my personal life i dont make a single significant decision alone. Because i have a track record of making bad loans. Instead, i go to my friends my sober friends and my wife to get advice and suggestions and then i follow them. And thats worked for me. It may or may not work for you i just put it out there. But its worked for me. Left to my own devices, it was ugly. But leading and following the advice of others and their sober wisdom has worked for me. And im here. Helping out with our team. And you too can do exactly the same thing. I dont care what you do for a living. Doesnt matter. This is a disease that has remarkable equality. No matter who you are, you can get it. And i got. There isnt a day that goes by that i dont think about my alcoholism. There isnt a day that goes by that i dont read my daily meditation prayer in the morning. There isnt a day that goes by that i dont call or text one of my aa buddies and there isnt a day that goes by that i dont say the serenity to dish serenity prayer. Not a day for 25 years. Why . Because i have to. Thats all i need to be reminded of the main issue which is my sobriety. I may have good forecasts or bad forecasts. I may give the president good advice or less good advice but the one thing i do without exception is go through my meditations and the serenity prayer. And often times of things get a little intense around here just occasionally, i will say the serenity prayer again. It works. It works if you work and i hope you know that familiar phrase. God bless all of you. Im blessed. Im lucky, but im blessed. That i discovered god, that i discovered a higher power, that i discovered the 12 step programs. And that im able to help out my fellow alcoholics my fellow countryman, to give service. Im an old guy. It came late but its been great. Honestly, its been great. My worst day. My worst day, the president can be yelling at me or something goes wrong i it doesnt matter whatever my worst day now is better than any day i had before i got sober and i mean that sincerely. So you can do it. And to the employers who are here and others. Give us a chance, please. Give us a chance. Thats all we ask. And we will try to own up to our responsibilities. And stay the road. Stay on the right road and help you. I think recovering alcoholics make great employees, myself. And thats what makes it such a great thing that the first lady and my pal jen and jerome of jerome have come to help in whatever capacity were here official personal whatever its very rare for people to do this what youre doing them so we love you for it we really appreciate it. And if youll permit me, ill just end with this thought. God, grant me the serenity to accept the things i cannot change. The wisdom to know the difference. God bless all of you and lets all stay on the happy road of destiny as sober men and women. Thank you, maam. Live monday, labor day on cspans washington journal, well feature a campaign 2020 discussion on fixed battleground states. Carolina, florida, ohio, pennsylvania, and arizona, where President Trump and joe biden are making efforts to win voters. We talk about the political makeup and dynamic of each state with the Capital Bureau chief in photo, a marked a cleveland. Com political reporter , Milwaukee Journal SentinelWashington Bureau chief, craig gilbert. Pittsburgh gazzette reporter jillian ralph. And dylan rosenblatt. Watch cspans washington journal live at 7 00 eastern monday morning as we discussed battle states and join in with your phone calls, and tweets. Coveragempaign 2020 continues monday with senator Kamala Harris joining a roundtable in milwaukee with black Business Owners after meeting with ibew union members. Thats live at 4 50 p. M. Eastern on cspan. Vide weekend on cspan, monday at 8 00 p. M. , the white house chief of staff to the past four president s on how they dealt with crises during their respective administrations. The process of information, while always important to a president or leader, becomes extraordinarily important when you are dealing with crises. And you have to stick to the process the chief is created and hopefully the president has empowered to make sure the president is getting all of the information they need to make the right decision. Watch cspan this labor day weekend. Youre watching cspan, your ,nfiltered view of government crated by americas Television Companies as a Public Service and brought to you today by your television provider. Washington journal continues. Host more campaign 2020 discussion with charlie cook, politicalthe cook report. We are two months before the election day. Where does the president ial race stand in your view . He was in a tough spot before the coronavirus hit. Just using the caliper numbers in his first year in