Letters to the Editor
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well...
it was a beautiful speach and he did manage to speak to white working class Reagan democrats as well...I dunno if it will really sink in though in this youtube American Idol election...only time will tell, he has with this speach dealt with this issue beautifully yet will it be effective?
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Great speech.
Nuanced and reasonable with a good grasp of history and where it has taken us. He condemns the more radical things Rev. Wright has said, but doesn't throw his old pastor under the bus. He demonstrates that he understands where that anger comes from, and then says that it is counterproductive. It was well written and moving. One, I suspect, for the books.
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I'm biased as a supporter
but my reaction is that he exceeded my wildest expectations. We've got somebody really special here, let's take advantage of it as Democrats.
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I have often wished
that I were one of those cynical Gen-Xers who can read through a sermon like this and pass it off as "just a speech." I did try, I swear. But it is just too freakin' good to be cynical about. I think people will be remembering this speech for a long time after Obama is president.
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One of the most remarkable speeches I've ever heard
He's done everything he could have done. Barack Obama forthrightly and honestly touched on all of the issues of race, from all sides, that a human being could possibly be asked to do. He opened up the dialogue of race that so many, supposedly, have been asking black Americans for for so long.
He also presented this country as it was, good and bad.
To me it was one of the most amazing speeches I've ever seen. Seeing him standing up there, controlling himself, disavowing the statements but also explaining the awareness. Vocalizing what we as a country need to do to move forward.
Now it is up to us. Only we have the answer. It's time to see if we really stand for what we say we stand for. I have never been prouder of Barack Obama, as a black man and as an American than I am today. It's time to see what we really stand for.
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This is why I support the man
The delivery wasn't the best - I might be the one Obama supporter who doesn't think he's always a good speaker - but the text, well the text is what I would have written if Obama asked me to. Will it work? Who knows these days? It sure has a good shot though.
Ultimately, the initial reactions on CNN and MSNBC show that he might benefit from the same thing that caused him to go down. The press get bored with a story and a reversal gives them something new and interesting to cover so they go with that. Wright could only have killed him if it built and built and built and built. Now it's going to - likely - defuse and we'll be talking about something else next week.
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more obama empty promises
Obama says one thing and then does another. Remember how he wasn't going to run a negative campaign? He has done nothing but attack Hillary for months.
He's just another inexperienced, arrogant, religious fanatic.
He's George W. Bush in Democratic drag.
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Truthful, courageous and nuanced
He said things that are patently true but that no other politician I have ever heard would ever touch with a ten-foot pole. He took stuff that has been pushed into the closet and forced it into the light of day. He lanced a boil.
I just pray that people are listening.
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Obama's first State of the Union speech!
An amazing and moving speech that touched on all the issues and addressed all Americans together, as a union! I've said it before and I'll say it again: This man was born to be president of these Unites States of America.
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Obama - please stop patting yourself on the back
I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork.
You gave this speech because you had to give it, because you know that it wouldn't just fade into the woodwork, not because you're some Kennedy-endorsed Profile-in-Courage.
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What Is It About Philly?
There must be something in the water that triggers the sort of eloquence that pulls a nation together.
It worked for John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, as we have just been reminded courtesy of Tom Hanks and HBO.
And it seems to be working for the Senator from Illinois.
Wright or not, he has my vote. And he has it because this country needs to Drive On.
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Who am I victimized by?
Just tell me and I can get on the bandwagon.
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If I didn't know better
I'd swear the whole Wright debacle was arranged to set up this speech.
I would have bet he couldn't top his 2004 keynote. Now I'm not sure my heart is going to be able to take his first Inaugural.
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Historic
That was simply amazing.
He didn't do the easy thing, the Clintonian thing, and throw his Friend and Mentor under a bus and then Patriotically strut about for 15 minutes. Honestly that was what I expected of him. I mean, that's what any politician would do, right?
Instead he used the words of Jeremiah Wright to spring board past this faux controversy and talk about the reality of race and religion in America today. The true genius here is that Senator Obama was able to open up those long standing grievances of both White America and Black America, and discuss them openly, honestly, painfully, and then lead everyone past that to address the hope for something better from everyone.
I'm in awe and I find my faith reaffirmed that an Obama Presidency can be one on par with FDR. (As long as we can get him elected and get Hillary out of the way.)
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Incredible Vision
This is what we need from our president today. There are many underlying reasons for why this country is in the mess it's in today, but he addresses the root causes.
Of course, he has many detailed policies detailing specific remedies to all the major issues facing this country. And many politicians, buerocrats and soldiers who support him can provide him with thousands of years of their experience and expertise.
But the leader of our country has to know which direction to point the ship of state. In my opinion, his direction is where I want to go.