Obama’s historic speech strikes the perfect chord
 
In the 2001 World Series, New York Yankee 2nd baseman Alfonso Soriano hit a game and series tying home run in extra innings that seemed to turn the momentum of the series. I remember thinking at the time tht if the Yankees went on to win the series that the homer would go down as one of the great moments in Yankee lore. Well, the Yankees lost the series to Arizona and that Soriano homerun is barely a footnote to what was a historic series. I had similar thoughts today when watching Barack Obama deliver a historic speech on race relations in America. My thought was that if Obama goes on to secure the Democratic nomination and then defeats John McCain for the presidency that this speech will not only prove to be the pivotal point of the Democratic campaign, but will go down in history as one of the great all-time examples of political rhetoric right along with King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
Obama had a very difficult path to travel today in finding a way to put Reverand Wright’s inflamatory rhetoric behind while not throwing a man he has stated was a close friend and influential character in his life under the bus. At the same time, Obama had to address the issue of judgement and why he chose Wright and the Trinity Church out of all the places he could have worshipped and at the same time explain how he could sit in that pew for two decades, listening to his pastor’s provactive comments without cause for concern.  For my money the Senator struck the perfect balance and delivered on all points. The speech he gave was intelectually nuanced, passionate, and honest, though never expedient. Most impressive to me was that Obama - knowing the political cost of doing so - refused to distance himself from Wright, saying that to do so would equate to “distancing (him)self from the black community.” I have more respect for him that he would stand by his friend even with polls showing that 92% of Ameriocans disapprove of him than had he thrown the man overboard. This speaks volumes about Obama’s character.
I actually think as we move ahead from this moment that the Wright debacle will ultimately have helped Obama. On the one hand there are certainly no longer questions about Obama being a Muslim. More importantly, Obama’s speech highlighted the deep fissures that still exist in this country and the work that still needs to be done to heal the racial scars that have come from years of injustice. It’s hard to imagine that anyone who heard the speech didn’t come away thinking that there is both much work to be done on this issue and that Barack Obama is a candidate uniquely qualified to tackle this gigantic issue.
I hope and pray America sees it the same way, for I believe we would be extremely lucky to have Barack Obama as our president.
Olbermann’s Special Comment for the Ages
“This way madness lies.”Â
Clinton has obviously calculated that the racial overtones being floated by her surrogates are more helpful to her goal than is any potential fallout. It’s The Democratic party be damned. Polls show she isn’t getting any of the African American vote in her battle against Obama, so why not polarize the whites and position this as a race war? Sure it will kill the party in the intermediate and long term, but that’s not her problem.
Keith Olbermann’s Special Comment is particularly notable as he has always been an ardent Clinton supporter.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=xtAja20kTCA[/youtube]
