This historic speech, bound to be dissected for days and years to come, is the red meat many of us were waiting for. Senator Barack Obama's speech showcased a fighting spirit and a directness that could beat the so-called 'Straight Talk Express' any day.  

What stood out the most to me is indeed the same observation of NBC's Brian Williams and Keith Olbermann: the tone came right out of Aaron Sorkin's scripts.  This is the scene from the 1995 film The American President that one immediately recalls, below:

Tonight I decided to see how the Republicans dealt with tonight's smackdown, Obama style.  Naturally, I went to A1egre's site, NoQuarter, and TDarling's blog (I'm a sadomasochist).  I was taken aback!  I had a great time.  So you don't have to sully yourselves, here's what I found.

A1egre still thinks the movement is relevant, and vows to keep up the fight.  To hell with women's rights, it was all about Hillary.  Shining golden Hillary.  Amazingly, this was about what I expected.  Same old stuff.

TDarling has HUGE picture of McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison on the front page.  Under it you see her beg McCain to choose Kay as VP.  Nice.  No democrat on earth would ever want that lady within 1000 feet of the Whitehouse.  This person is and never was a progressive.  Pure republican fraudster through and through.

Now for the total batshit insanity.  NoQuarter...

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos)

Alright-- this could descend into hyperbole way too easily. But the fact is that Walmart is selling a bassinet that strangled 4 infants before it was recalled by the company that makes it-- and which has now killed two more, because it would be silly to take something off the shelves before you've exhausted the stock, after all.

The most recent death occurred last week on Thursday when six-and-a-half-month-old Kennedy Brotherton slipped between the mattress and the side railing after the mattress came loose from the frame, her aunt, Melissa Brotherton, told ConsumerAffairs.com in a phone interview.

Kennedy's body slipped through a space between the mattress and the railing until she dangled by her head on the lower bar of the railing and choked, according to Capt. Ron Copeland of the Shawnee Police Department in Kansas.

Many in the audience in Denver and at home probably noticed how Barack Obama's cadence changed toward the end of his acceptance speech as he took on the tone of a preacher.  It might take some discussion to understand the signficance of his closing line, one that may have been offered as a central statement of his faith as well as the message of his campaign.  "Let us hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess."

The reference is to Paul's letter to the Hebrews, Ch. 10, v. 23.  This section of the epistle is a celebration of possibility, how all Christians can now, through the sacrifice of Jesus, enter "boldly into the sanctuary," which was previously reserved only for the priests of the Hebrew covenant. This chapter endorses a radical equality, the priesthood of all believers.  With this radical equality comes a mutual responsibility.  In the lines following those quoted by Obama is this exhortation: "We ought to see how each of us may best arouse others to love and active goodness."  And Paul also exhorts his audience to boldness, as in the last verse of the chapter: "We are not among those who shrink back and are lost; we have the faith to make life our own."

I believe this was not a scriptural reference offered by a campaign religious advisor.  This reference seems an absolutely sincere expression of faith and the spiritual grounding of Obama's bold endeavor.

-J. Hannon

Wow, the Republicans in the First Congressional District are awfully desperate about facing Heather Ryan. Not only do they steal and vandalize her campaign signs, while they have over a million dollars to spend on their own, but they actually attack her for doing a fundraiser to help battered women at a place called the Merryman House.

I never, ever, ever should have switched over to Fox. But I couldn't resist. I couldn't help myself.

Well, why go and ruin the best political speech I've heard, firsthand, in my lifetime, with some second-rate commentary?

This is the shortest diary I've ever written. There's really nothing much more to say, other than the full-text version of the prepared speech is available via THIS LINK.

And, it looks like he stuck to the brilliant words almost verbatim.

Can everyone stop whining now?