I am in China and was unable to view the speech in its entirety, but I just read the text and it brought me to tears.

For any politician to wade so forthrightly into this messy complicated realm is to be respected. That he was able to do it with a real sense of empathy and understanding, breaks new ground in my own expectations for what political rhetoric in this country might acheive.

I only hope that somehow it is able to be reflected on in its fullness and not just a sentence here & there.

Thanks you for reprinting the entire text.

Can anyone imagine such eloquent, complex, nuanced thought coming from Hillary Clinton? I sure can't. She voted for the war; she supported Bush/Cheney and Rumsfeld; she supported torture and war profiteering. She's financed by the drug companies. Why doesn't she just leave? This isn't a gender issue; it's a matter of whether or not a politician sees her own career as more important than the lives of people who will be murdered in a war zone. Clinton sees her career (and sucking up to the right-wing machine) as more important than the lives of Americans or Iraqis. That is simply despicable. She is as responsible as Bush for the atrocities of this war of aggression. We already have a president like that; we don't need another one.

Compare Obama's speech to any speech by the war-mongers Clinton, McCain, or George W. Bush. (I'm not convinced Bush could even understand Obama's speech, let alone come up with one with a fraction of its power.) None of them could ever speak from the historical and experiential perspective of Obama. That's what this election is about: are we going to opt for a new perspective or stick with business as usual?

Is it possible we could have a president who actually knows how to think and to express sophisticated, subtle points in clear and inspiring language? Obama is not a saint and I'm not a devotee, but he's the best we've got. Electing him is a no-brainer!

Tell me, when will Hilary give as moving a speech about feminism as Obama gave about racism?

Are we to base election of the Presidency on how well someones delievers a speech? Honestly, make me President, because I’m a better public speaker than Obama. He’s decent for a politician, but the bar there is pretty low. I also know foreign policy better than he does, yet I don’t consider myself in anyway ready to be President.

Can anyone imagine such eloquent, complex, nuanced thought coming from Hillary Clinton?

Yes, many people can. She’s not nearly as good a speaker as Obama, but again, great public oratory should not be the criterion for selecting the President.

I felt a little silly earlier posting about the Grandma issue but, much to my surprise, I just heard both the BBC and NPR in the past couple of hours open their coverage of Obama's speech with this (approximate) quote: "I could no more reject Rev. Wright than I could my white grandmother..." Yikes!

Is he really equating this poor woman with the hateful Pastor? I actually don't think this was naked political expediency on Obama's part. He genuinely reveres Rev. Wright as he would a family member. But it's a little weird that he could be so clueless as to how insulting toward his grandmother this could be perceived. I sincerely hope she did approve this message, as others have suggested.

Well, I blame in on the speech writer. Who DOES write his speeches, by the way? They are good.

ugh, I hate it when I have typo in my carefully composed posts!

Obama is supposed to take this occasion to decry the "imperial system". Wacko. He's not Pete Camejo.Read the speech, if you have the brain cells remaining to do so. What was the subject at hand? Imperialism? Chrysler Imperials? Little Anthony and the Imperials. You need professional care, and soon.

Yes.

(unlike my weird obsession - I really, really love my grandma, sorry, can't help myself, but I'll stop now, I promise)

I think you are making some very good points. Thanks for the reality check. I absolutely dread the coming onslaught.

Gotta go now, I'm going blind

there is never time to decry the system, but there is always time for pandering to the Lobby.

But that he just had to throw a wink and a nod to reassure AIPAC, and relieve everyone watching with that one sentence that he is on board when it comes to maintaining the Empire. After all, he is no Pacifist.

Obama tells the Noble Lie in his ultimate love speech. Engraved into the record for future generations. What a Poltician. What a fraud.

And this is a real kicker to me. A lot of what Wright said is true, some is pharma conspiracy (some Chinese say the same thing about Bird Flu, Alex Jones says it about vaccines, etc.), but the "USA KKK" crap is bigotry, and the groupspeak is a vehicle for it, seems pretty simple. But when I mention that what Obama said in his speech contradicts what everyone on here is casually brushing off as The Truth, I'm off my meds.

It's funny. His Pastor basically said that criticizing or even trying to discuss Israel is taboo in the US, which it is, that the Israeli occupation is bigoted, which it is, and that it contributed to the motivations behind 9/11, which according to OBL, it did. Is this not the stuff that everyone is casually brushing off as true?

So many people are playing apologist for the Pastor's bigotry by saying that "Well, it's true", but yet when Obama gives his lovefest speech about race he pulls the "the Israeli Occupation has nothing to do with blowback" schtick, you know, a Noble Lie, and everyone is ready to be like, "well, you know, you gotta do what you gotta do to get elected" while in the next breath saying how honest he is. Please.