Obama - For a more perfect union speech

If you do nothing else to increase your political awareness over the next week, you should take 37 minutes and listen to the speech Obama made yesterday in Philadelphia addressing among many other things, accusations about having reverend Jeremiah Wright as a minister and spiritual advisor.

The link is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWe7wTVbLUU

I have been an Obama supporter all along, because I felt that this country needed a statesman that could express his/herself eloquently and be a leader (visually, orally and intellectually) in repairing our image as Americans at home and abroad.

To me, this speech represented not only an acute understanding of the issues that I believe are important in this campaign cycle (with the exception of maybe net neutrality - Zhi!), but also one of the most candid, straightforward and intelligent political pieces of my adult experience. What is most important to me, is that Barack Obama finally took a stand for something. And that stand was for the most important things I can think of - truth, honesty and integrity. I no longer hope that Obama will be elected, but am trying to figure out how I can also help to make sure he is our next president. It goes along the lines of a moral imperative.

Taking a step back for a moment, my concern is that this oration will also act as a polarizing force for his campaign. People are generally uncomfortable with candid discussion of race, religion, the roles those things play in modern life, and what is more, candid discussion of this country's failures. I hope there are enough people that feel as I do.

I also was impressed by Obama's humility in this speech, and by his clear message that no one can promise to truly fix anything in one campaign cycle, but that it is "a START". His effort is for "a more perfect union" so that future generations will be better off than ours and his. This is a message that I support.

It is also worthwhile to read what response he is getting to his speech.
Here is a Washington post article with commenters: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/dot.comments/2008/03/post_11.html

I have not included the many other sources I have read in relation to the speech this morning - but rest assured they are out there, but it is really funny to hear some people talk about Wright's sermons, like they were there every Sunday for 20 years and heard all the vile things the man said. Obviously, that wasn't happening. They use all these "sermons" as an indictment of Obama's character.

Additionally, it is interesting to try and get a feeling for the people who support and do not support his rhetoric. Read the syntax and word choice carefully in these comments. As I feared the speech went over the heads of much of the collective masses, but was a moving dialog to many intellectuals.

The net-net of this post. If are college educated, you should listen to as much of this speech as possible. I found it enlightening.