A More Perfect Union

It's been an exciting day.

My parents are here, all the way from the great Northwest, to visit for a week. They pulled up to Grass Avenue in a Lincoln Town Car, bearing gifts of framed poster and an autographed Steve Sax baseball. Sisters arrive Friday, in-laws on Saturday ... It's going to be great to have everyone in the house, especially when a few bottles of wine are emptied.

Speaking of, I decided something today: I'd like to drink more wine. Red wine. The good stuff. Just having a glass tonight was relaxing and almost euphoric, and though I'm still up at 3 a.m. typing this post, I can see the benefits of a nightly glass to usher myself into slumber.

But the real reason I'm up at 3 is because I just finished watching/reading Barack Obama's speech on race and the flap surrounding his pastor's anti-American comments, which have circled Youtube and the news networks. I'm tired, but I feel ... inspired ... to write something ... anything ...

The speech was spot on. Obama responded to what's essentially a soundbite controversy with 40 minutes of elegant and thought-provoking words. He didn't shy away or try to separate himself from the pastor, instead he explained what was at the root of the pastor's comments, not to justify them, but to explain why such comments, such feelings, still exist in society today.

What Obama did today was extraordinary. He didn't pander. He didn't squirm. He didn't attempt to pull out a few one-liners or demonize anyone.

He challenged us to think.

He crafted his speech not as a sermon, or in a newspaper terms, an editorial or column. Instead, he wrote a straight-news story: He laid out the facts, presented the choices, and said, "Go ahead, folks. Figure it out for yourself."

He didn't insult our intelligence, instead he asked us to (gasp!) use it.

Example:
"We have a choice in this country. We can accept a politics that breeds division, and conflict, and cynicism. We can tackle race only as spectacle – as we did in the OJ trial – or in the wake of tragedy, as we did in the aftermath of Katrina - or as fodder for the nightly news. We can play Reverend Wright’s sermons on every channel, every day and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words. We can pounce on some gaffe by a Hillary supporter as evidence that she’s playing the race card, or we can speculate on whether white men will all flock to John McCain in the general election regardless of his policies.

We can do that.

But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we’ll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change."

Obama's a great speaker, certainly. But this was less about a speech and more about an idea. The worst orator in the world could've said these words, and they'd still be powerful. I am deeply, deeply impressed by him today, more than I've been by any other politician I've ever listened to. I resisted the "Obamania" thus far, but he just might have earned my vote today (if I get the chance). Is there any doubt, after this speech, that Obama is tough enough to take on any political attack the right will throw at him? If he can speak with such candor and show such vision about as taboo an issue as race in America, is there any doubt he can rise above the usual politics when talking about other hot-button issues, as well?



Our dinner conversation tonight, before I watched this speech, touched on many issues surrounding Obama and Rev. Wright. My folks, Sarah and I talked about race, affirmative action, white guilt, black entitlement, class issues, etc. over burgers at Ruby Tuesday.

I look forward to watching this speech again. Only this time, with my parents sitting next to me.