It's a very well crafted speech, but outside of re-iterating his condemnation, he simply explains why some black people feel that way, then talks about racism as a whole. I don't know that it "settles" the controversy over Wright.

I figured they were tweaking it, he hasn't started yet, has he?

Who knows.

But I think it is an amazing speech.

My support of Hillary Clinton comes from my admittedly cynical belief that she will do a better job fighting the extremist right-wing in this country that seems to have power that far exceeds it actual support. In some ways, it is because Obama seems too decent for the task.

But in terms of defining a dream and a better future, of being able to understand and articulate how the divisions in our society hurt all of us, Obama is in a class with Lincoln and Martin Luther King.

America has waited for over 200 years for the moment when we as a nation would overcome the divisions and the disaster of race.  

For the first time in American history, a major American figure has stood up in the face of the storm of racial politics to shed sunlight on the underlying conflicts.

Obama directly faced the anger that remains in heart of black America resulting from real and perceived slights.  Obama directly faced the resentment of whites resulting from efforts to address them.

There has never been a real effort to embrace the light and the dark, the real and the imagined, the love and the hate of American life.  This is the fist time that a leader has shown the courage to face every aspect of the issue of race with power, passion, force and authenticity.

This is the moment we will look back on in January when Obama president as the moment that we crossed over.  This will be seen as the end of the "Southern Strategy", the end of the age of Rovian politics.  

Obama has provided Americans with the power to transform this country, but it is up to America now to act in the interest of the future.  We don't have white, and brown, and black children, we have a need for universal education.  Disease and injury don't seek out white, and black, and brown people, they debilitate the entire nation in the absence of universal health care.  No community, black, white, or brown has a monopoly of grievence in this nation, we have a nation with wounds that must heal, so that government can serve the interests of all people.

This is the moment, and you were here.  It's time for leadership, Obama has given you the moment, but it's time for each of us to embrace and to lead America to a better future.  

Exactly.  Rovian Politics is grounded on the notion that the only way to win an election is to define the electorate in terms of competing "tribes" and fan the flames of lingering resentment between and among them.  This approach will often win a 50%+1 election, but will ultimately tear the nation apart at its seams.  

This past weekend, I thought Rev. Wright's comments provided Obama with a golden opportunity to help heal this nation (http://www.raisingkaine.com/showComment.do?commentId=89628).  I'm happy to see he reached for it with both hands.

Every American should watch this speech in its entirety.  Obama took the proverbial lemons and didn't just make lemonade, he made lemon flavored champagne today.  

Obama showed that he can respond to hits against him not by being too defensive (Kerry) or hitting back nasty (Clinton), but with the grace that has defined his campaign.  I am so proud to be an Obama supporter.

If you are not somebody's speech writer, you should be!

Unfortunately I was leaving for class right as Sen. Obama began speaking (and I seriously considered skipping to watch it).

As I've been scouring the internet reviews seem to be very glowing.

So was it the home run that he needed?

amazing... will post video on my action diary.'

GRAND SLAM!!!

The CNN link to Barack's speech:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITI...

"For the African-American community, that path means embracing the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. It means continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of American life. But it also means binding our particular grievances - for better health care, and better schools, and better jobs - to the larger aspirations of all Americans - the white woman struggling to break the glass ceiling, the white man whose been laid off, the immigrant trying to feed his family. And it means taking full responsibility for own lives - by demanding more from our fathers, and spending more time with our children, and reading to them, and teaching them that while they may face challenges and discrimination in their own lives, they must never succumb to despair or cynicism; they must always believe that they can write their own destiny"

"In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination - and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past - are real and must be addressed. Not just with words, but with deeds - by investing in our schools and our communities; by enforcing our civil rights laws and ensuring fairness in our criminal justice system; by providing this generation with ladders of opportunity that were unavailable for previous generations. It requires all Americans to realize that your dreams do not have to come at the expense of my dreams; that investing in the health, welfare, and education of black and brown and white children will ultimately help all of America prosper"

Going to have to digest this for a while.  I don't agree 100%

I strongly agree with this

"In the end, then, what is called for is nothing more, and nothing less, than what all the world's great religions demand - that we do unto others as we would have them do unto us (aka love your neighbor as yourself). Let us be our brother's keeper, Scripture tells us. Let us be our sister's keeper. Let us find that common stake we all have in one another, and let our politics reflect that spirit as well.

Was the speech a success?  Vote here:

I like Politico's headline of the speech
"A more perfect union", which is how Obama closed his speech.

I don't think that I have ever heard anybody speak about race relations and unity with so much honesty.  

Excellent diary here, check it out and ponder the amazing possibilities of an Obama presidency...

of the famous speech by Senator Webb in response to the SOTU last year.  I like people who refuse to be handled.  Obama has risen very high in my estimation with this, not the least because he shows a very sophisticated understanding of the origins of this country, of the Constitution, and of the great scar on this country's soul.  It's a brilliant speech.  I like that he refuses to trash Wright, that he acknowledges black anger and white resentment, that he invites the listener to find the common ground rather than stake out tribal territory.    

MSNBC commentary made an interesting point- Obama said "out of many we are one"- He is the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas.  He is representative of unity.

Does anyone else not care what someone's preacher says?  How is this relevant to how Obama will revive the economy or fix health care or get us back on track in Afghanistan.  I'm not buying into the media hype that this is could be a "mortal" blow to his campaign, as if he doesn't have a lead in delegates that Hillary nees to win 65+% in each remaining primary to overtake.

The press was hounding him about the comments of his preacher... it is irrelevant unless he was clearly under the preacher's sway (which he is clearly NOT).

The interesting point is that Obama took adversity (the unfair and irrelevant connections to this preacher), and turned it into an inspirational speech that calls on all of us to pull together to improve the country.  He is directly challenging you and I to overcome our doubts and differences.  That is profound.

In a way I guess we have to thank Wright for causing the pain from which Obama could grow and rise to the challenge.

Until yesterday's speech I had no idea that one of this election's candidates could speak as powerfully and eloquently as Lincoln, F. Roosevelt, J. Kennedy....   Now we have an impressive leader who clearly stands out in front of all other candidates regardless of party affiliation.

Someone is smokin' dope - I agree that this is not a mortal blow at all.  Even if Obama's response had been lame, this would not have dented the campaign a bit because you are correct... it's not him, nor his campaign, but some preacher he has listened to in the past.  No big deal.  Likewise not a big deal for some of the crazy preachers McCain and Bush have listened to (unless they themselves start parroting the drivel)...

In this case Obama's response changes the entire election.

It no longer matters who wins, from this point on any of them will have to work hard to confront these issues, and it is no clear how either Clinton or McCain can claim to handle them as well as Obama has demonstrated he can.

At this point the election is effectively over and Obama will be the next President.