We noted previously that Senator Obama's preliminary condemnations of incendiary statements by Reverend Jeremiah Wright of the United Church of Christ were an important first step in confronting the moral challenge of that controversy. Subsequently, Senator Obama delivered a historic oration at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia which has earned many well deserved accolades for rare qualities of leadership and candor which we have not seen in decades. It is fitting that this address was delivered in the City of Brotherly Love.
Marc Ambinder of The Atlantic provides the full text of the Philadelphia oration on “A More Perfect Union” here.
Charles Murray of the National Review describes the speech as "flat out brilliant".
I read the various posts here on "The Corner," mostly pretty ho-hum or critical about Obama's speech. Then I figured I'd better read the text (I tried to find a video of it, but couldn't). I've just finished. Has any other major American politician ever made a speech on race that comes even close to this one? As far as I'm concerned, it is just plain flat out brilliant—rhetorically, but also in capturing a lot of nuance about race in America. It is so far above the standard we're used to from our pols....
Some thoughtful TPMCafe reactions to the address are available here.
Emory professor of psychology and psychiatry and author of The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation Drew Westen analyzes the cognitive potency of truth and the meta-messages of Senator Obama's oration.
Harvard scholar Joseph Nye offers global perspective from the world of international relations.
Robert Creamer offers a view on the politics of Barack Obama’s most important test on the presidential campaign trail so far.
TPM excerpts (10 minutes):
The complete oration (approximately 40 minutes):
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You have a great round-up here. If we get enough of it out on the web, maybe we won't be just preaching to the choir.
Thanks for stopping by my place and leaving this link. I appreciate it. I also posted today, if you're interested.
The Meat: Jeremiah Wright Publishes CAIR
Jeremiah Wright Connects
There's a couple of others that relate if you scroll down the page.
Maggie
Maggie's Notebook
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