debaser and all you other apologists:

Regardless of what his grandmother may or may not have said or done, was it REALLY necessary for him to taint her like that, drag her through the mud that he has been wallowing in? This is the family that cared for him, this is the woman who housed and fed and clothed him when he wanted to stay in Hawaii when his mother moved back to Indonesia. He would not be where he is today without this family. He will say and do whatever he needs to say and do and he's really good at it.

First, let me say that I am in awe of this speech. Anyone with a brain can see and hear that Barack Obama is a truly gifted orator. But gifted orators come and go; what is truly astonishing about Obama is his fearlessness and refusal to stoop to the levels of almost any other politician. Obama didn't back down, he didn't equivocate; he told the truth. There ARE divisions in this country and there IS resentment, from many races, not just black and white. Contrary to the lies that some like to parrot, Obama has NOT made his candidacy about race. He has designed his candidacy around something much more powerful: reason. Yes, reason. Sure, hope, intelligence, inspiration and any number of other terms could have been used in place of that word, and indeed, many may identify more with them; but, in my opinion, they are just the by-products of the true asset that Mr. Obama brings to the table. The man thinks about problems and addresses them head on, and doesn't allow his response to be determined by the easy political motivation or concern. This is what this country needs, precisely when it needs it: reasoned, critical thinking.

It is too late in the game to continue pretending that we are a truly united nation by default; it is too late to continue to pretend that our actions in the world occur in a vaccuum and that they can be resolved by war without introspection. It is too late to believe that we are great because of past triumphs without also considering past mistakes and future sacrifices. Bush and his ilk have driven us into true peril and make no mistake, it will take a truly great leader to pull us out of it - and even with a truly great leader, it will take resolve and reason of historic proportions to restore our place in the world and within.

So I say this: if anyone can truly say that Hillary Clinton or John McCain are that great leader, then by all means, vote that conviction and godspeed to you. But if you cannot say that, or if you are feeling even a slight doubt, especially when you hear the inevitable opportunistic attempts to twist this moment into something it is not - or worse - to attempt to extinguish the truly inspiring possibilities that it promises - then vote for Barack Obama.

I'm still in awe of your analysis of the drug war..

It has indeed become America's "secular religion" the received wisdom of which may not be questioned. It made so many things so much more clear for me.

Thank you for that.

Keep rooting for those old racists. I think I caught a peak of the color of your money...if you know what i mean. Put your money where your vision of the future really is.

To the reader complaining about Obama's tactics - you don't live in Texas

Yessiree. I also live in Texas, and there was no question at all about who ran the uglier, shadier, slash-and-burnier campaign.

I don't condemn her personally for it; that's just the way political campaigns have been run since forever. Hers is not exceptional. But the problem is that today, politics as usual simply will not work. America needs a significant, bottom-up overhaul or we are dead meat on a stick. Hillary's insistence on playing the same old game that's gotten us where we are today was what put the nail in her coffin, for this voter at least.

I guess we are so used to getting lied to that its just shocking when someone actually stands up and says, 'yes, my family have said cringe-worthy racial stuff.'

And you know what? So has mine. And I would guess that so has yours. And probably so has everyone else's on this board.

That's the point. This speech was a big fat risky dose of reality that Obama just gave to everyone. American may turnaround and crush him for it because we don't want to hear it but I defy anyone to say that it wasn't every word of truth.

All we had to do was throw the Clintons and grandma under the racist bus, but hey, it was worth it. What an orator, what a guy. I gather the subtext of this speech was pretty much: "I'm your big chance to prove you're not a racist." It's always, always, always about Obama, 24/7/365,isn't it? Sorry, some of us just aren't inspired and never will be, because this guy's one big clay foot and a hypocrite to boot.

Only a hardcore cynic invested in continuing the politics of the last 20 years could find fault with it.

Yes, you are right. Only hardcore cynics can find fault with Obama's speech and want to continue "the politics of the last 20 years". What politics specifically? Are you talking about our Foreign Policy, specifically our undisputed love and support for Israel, no matter what it does? That policy of the last 20+ years? Because if you read his speech, Obama doesn't seem to be interested in changing that one. He must be cynical... just like all the posters here who support establishment candidates and wax poetically about human rights while giving Israel and our other Democracy Spreading Police State friends a pass because, well, you just "have to do it". Basically, Israel's policies, policies that can and have led to blowback (even in the US), which is a real danger to the US, aren't as important as Obama making sure to stress that saying bigoted stuff is bad.

But only hardcore cynics can find fault with Obama's speech, especially that little teeny tiny part about continuing America's wink and a nod policy regarding Israeli War Crimes, American Hubris and ME Domination, and the Zionist Bigotry that have dominated and has remain unchanged in the 20 year time frame you mentioned. Hell, why not make it 30 years?