Wow. Barack Obama just delivered a phenomenal speech that should more than undo the damage done by his pastor. If that guy's not ready to lead a nation, no one is.
His tone/delivery was dialed down a bit, and I'm more used to seeing him speak from the center of a crowd rather than on a stage of flags, but the words were powerful, and should speak to everyone but those that will always remain beyond his appeal.
Get with it America. Our new President is ready. Are we?
UPDATE: Text of speech
UPDATE 2: YouTube has it...
When I watched the speech live I joined at about the 3:20 mark, so I missed the early Constitution/slavery part he opened with. It seemed a bit awkward, and the fact that he points out the flaws in this country's history might be the only thing that the Right can grasp at to criticize ("But, but...America is Perfect!"). It also might make it more challenging for skeptics to get drawn in long enough for the speech to take off, which it does right at that moment when he declares he is the "son of a black man."
UPDATE 3: The rush to find the nugget or soundbite is already on, even at sites like Talking Points Memo which is disappointing. (Though, I suppose obvious when you realize the name of the site). One of the better things I've seen so far was this comment at John Cole's:
Whether he wins or not, the man has garnered my respect and admiration. That speech was not beautiful or eloquent, it was HONEST. And that, “MY FRIENDS”, is what makes all the difference. Not some trite greeting, not some BS shrilling, but an in your face, look at your country and realize that while America is great, it still has problems that need to be solved.
In this day of fake Patriotism, and loyalty tests, this man can actually get up and speak about what people really think. I don’t know if he would make a great President, but he makes me proud as an American. That someone finally has the balls to actually talk us like adults and not 10 second attention deficit disorder kids.
9 comments:
I will weigh-in my ususal 10 pounds of nonsense on this Obama post in a second. I thought you might want to see this:
Senate Democrats emerged from a closed-door caucus this morning and proclaimed that a fledging idea floated by top Michigan Democrats to create a special June 3 primary election is all but dead.
"The votes aren't there to do it," said Sen. Buzz THOMAS (D-Detroit), the co-chair of the Barack OBAMA campaign in Michigan
Sen. Gretchen WHITMER, a supporter of Hillary CLINTON, also conceded the chances of a June 3 redo of the Democratic presidential primary were slim. She stopped short of declaring it dead, saying instead that it was "on life support" and in need of CPR.
The Legislature would need to approve a bill by a two-third vote to put in place a June 3 special primary that would replace the results of the Jan. 15 presidential primary, which the Democratic National Committee (DNC) is not recognizing because the early date violated national party rules.
Support for the primary is weak for numerous reasons, the biggest reason being Obama's reluctance to sign off. Republicans, local clerks and state officials, however, also have raised concerns about rushing to create a special primary for logistical and legal reasons.
Without the redo, Michigan Democrats and independents risk not having a substantive voice in the Clinton-Obama horserace before a DNC deadline for states to report their delegate count expires on June 10.
Good.
As much as I would have been excited for Obama to come here and campaign and I would have gotten up for a serious GOTV effort, this is the right decision.
I've been meaning to post on this whole fiasco, and haven't had the chance...might not need to now.
Okay. 2 things.
1) This sppech was the most honest, frank and least emotionally-charged discussion of the role of racism in American politics I have ever had the pleasure of listening to. It was wonderful. It was just a bare-bones, honest speech. It said it's still here (racism), but if you allow it to become the focal point of your discussion, you only serve to deepen the divide. I love it. On the other hand, if we don't confront it, as he says, then how can we possibly solve other problems? Perfect.
2) It is a very good thing there is probably not going to be a do-over primary here in Michigan. The Senate Republicans under Mike Bishop and the minority Republicans in the House have no dog in this fight, and don't care. So to get the 2/3 votes they need, they need Republicans out of both chambers (the Dems in the House not having a large enough majority to carry it themselves)....who don't care if this happens or not. So, the Dems go beg the Republicans for votes for their primary. Will Bishop and DeRoche release them freely to help the Dems with their little problem? Ohhhhhh no. They'll ask some pretty onerous shit in return. And I'm afraid the Dems, who are not great dealmakers, will give them some of it.
That's one helluva speech. Wow.
And the fact that I'm impressed is probably a disastrous sign for Obama.
Fantastic speech.
Stewart nailed it when he said, "And then at 11:00 on a Tuesday an American Politician talked to people about race.... like an adult."
The whole speech really resonated with me, largely because of everything he said is so damned reasonable. This ranks right up there with some of the great ones of the past four or five decades.
I voted for Kucinich in the Virginia primary, because I have been dissatisfied with what I am hearing from Obama and Clinton about ending the Iraq War, which I consider to be the single most important issue in this presidential cycle. With Kucinich out, I have gone back and forth over my ability to get behind one of the other candidates.
I will no longer sit on the fence. Clinton's behavior over the past month is intolerable, and I have reached the conclusion that I cannot support her. Today, I made my first contribution to the Obama campaign. I am in.
Welcome, RSB. Here's hoping there are millions more coming to the same conclusions...
furious, you know how little i follow politics. It's because of the politicians, both sides look/act too much like the same crap in different blankets. to me the dems only look good when placed in contrast to their counterparts.
No more.
I love this guy.
He spoke like he was not afraid to tell the truth. There was no hiding, no hedging. Even better, there was no dirt throwing.
I can't remember a politician being that honest.
If this were a movie, he would win the presidency with 97% of the vote.
Let's hope America does not disappoint me like it has in the past. (I am still hurting from 3 years ago)
I've only read excerpts of the speech, but what I read was amazing, and not so much for any originality or insight as for the tone of honesty and maturity. I kept thinking "Wow, he actually said that? Politicians aren't supposed to talk that way."
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