"We the people, in order to form a more perfect union"

Barack Obama's speech today discussing racism in America. It's a speech that we've never heard before from a presidential candidate. It was well done.



From the transcript:

I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. I can no more disown him than I can my white grandmother -- a woman who helped raise me, a woman who sacrificed again and again for me, a woman who loves me as much as she loves anything in this world, but a woman who once confessed her fear of black men who passed by her on the street, and who on more than one occasion has uttered racial or ethnic stereotypes that made me cringe.

These people are a part of me. And they are a part of America, this country that I love.

He's now thrown it into the court of anyone who has ever heard a close relative or friend make bigoted comments and yet we have not disowned them. That's everyone, whether folks are in denial about it or not.

Some will see this as an attempt to justify or excuse comments that are simply inexcusable. I can assure you it is not. I suppose the politically safe thing would be to move on from this episode and just hope that it fades into the woodwork.

We can dismiss Rev. Wright as a crank or a demagogue, just as some have dismissed Geraldine Ferraro, in the aftermath of her recent statements, as harboring some deep-seated racial bias.

Yup...let's remind people that Hillary has not disowned Gerry.

But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Rev. Wright made in his offending sermons about America -- to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through -- a part of our union that we have yet to perfect.

And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.

I don't believe for a minute that the Obama camp was surprised this speech had to happen. I think most folks knew it was going to be necessary eventually. However, I think that most didn't expect it's necessity until after he was a nominee. I think the intensity of the Rev. Wright issue did catch folks off guard and the decision to do this speech now was a good one.

I love that karateexplosions diary lists quotes from a whole bunch of different pastors (many of whom are welcome in the White House) that will set your hair on fire. Of special note is the nutjob that's John McCain's new best friend, John Hagee:

"All hurricanes are acts of God, because God controls the heavens. I believe that New Orleans had a level of sin that was offensive to God, and they are -- were recipients of the judgment of God for that. The newspaper carried the story in our local area that was not carried nationally that there was to be a homosexual parade there on the Monday that the Katrina came. And the promise of that parade was that it was going to reach a level of sexuality never demonstrated before in any of the other Gay Pride parades. So I believe that the judgment of God is a very real thing."

And how about this hilarious little joke?

Do you know the difference between a woman with PMS and a snarling Doberman pinscher? The answer is lipstick.

Yup - no bias at all.

Related to all of this, Miss Laura discusses why we need a nominee NOW:

Until we have a nominee, it's difficult for independent expenditure campaigns to gear up in support of the nominee. And since Clinton's clearest path to the nomination would be to destroy Obama, and given the recent race-baiting coming from people associated with the Clinton campaign, a continuing nomination battle could become poisonous very quickly.

Not only could the race-baiting and the dissing of states that voted for Obama create a civil war in the party, a superdelegate-driven Clinton nomination could kill her chances in the general.

If the Dems lose this election, we need to make sure the blame falls right into Clinton's lap where it belongs.