The Audacity of Hope

Barack Obama certainly delivered an incredibly classy and uplifting speech last night. Unfortunately, the networks did not see fit to televise it to America, so I am guessing very few people will actually have a chance to see it in its entirety. That in and of itself is a sad commentary and indictment on the SCLM. We will leave that for another post.

The man certainly demostrated his oratory prowess. As always, there is certainly room for improvement, but if this was his first "test" on the national stage, he passed with flying colors.

To summarize, in case you were unable to catch it live last night...

1) Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation...

2) That is the true genius of America...we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will be counted-or at least, most of the time...

3) This year, in this election, we are called to reaffirm our values and commitments, to hold them against a hard reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our forbearers, and the promise of future generations...

4) A while back, I met a young man named Shamus ...he'd joined the Marines and was heading to Iraq the following week...Are we serving Shamus as well as he was serving us?

5) When we send our young men and women into harm's way, we have a solemn obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why they're going, to care for their families while they're gone, to tend to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of the world.

6) we are connected as one people...If there's an Arab American family being rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process, that threatens my civil liberties

7)It's that fundamental belief-I am my brother's keeper, I am my sisters' keeper-that makes this country work... "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.

8) Now let me be clear. We have real enemies in the world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued and they must be defeated.

9) ...even as we speak, there are those who are preparing to divide us, the spin masters and negative ad peddlers who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America-there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America.

10) There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America.

11) Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope? John Kerry calls on us to hope. John Edwards calls on us to hope...It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a millworker's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.The audacity of hope!

12) Tonight, if you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do-if we do what we must do...this country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come. I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us. America!

Just My 2: Hope as opposed fear. What a concept? I am sure we will be seeing a lot from Mr. Obama in the very near future.

CSPAN has a streamed version of the speech and check out Obama's campaign site for a full transcript.