……

Wow. Wow. Chills. You know, I have always tried to resist Obama’s rhetorical magic. In one way, it feels as if the ability to make a great and persuasive speech is a sort of trick, a lawyer’s trick. But I think of Winston Churchill—not otherwise gr…

In politics it's important to have the right enemies. It's also critical to show those on your side and those in the middle that you're willing to fight for your vision and agenda.

This was the first speech I watched Obama and actually hoped the Republicans would hate it. Before this point I imagined that everybody under the sun would see Obama as this post-partisan political savior of sorts, who answered the call everybody longs for a new direction in politics. But throughout the summer it became increasingly obvious that such an approach was counerproductive, as it turned off some potential allies and it set itself up for mockery by the opposition.

This speech completely changed that dynamic. It said to those who would vote for the generic Democrat this election that Obama is exactly the right Democrat for this moment, and is willing to fight for specific Democratic plans. It also showed the conservative Bush-McCain Republicans that Obama considers their ideas wrong and dangerous. That the Right recoils is a good thing because they have been hit head on.

Goes the sound of the men………
Working on the Chain Gang.

CHA-CHIN
G, CHA-CHING, CHA-CHING

Goes the sound of the men…….
Voted to oversea our national wealth.

Chain gang…….national wealth.
What a travesty we have inflicted on ourselves.
Yes Republicans and Democrats alike. Both are evil people who just want to spend mindlessly without being able to afford it.

When will we ever learn to balance the budget? My guess is when we look something like the Former USSR and the liberals will still be screaming for their programs and the republicans will still be screaming to cut freakin taxes.

Last night I heard one Giant Cha-Ching from Barak Obama and his democratic allies.

Next week I will hear another giant Cha-Ching from the Republican hackeys who have their hands on the cash register button waiting for their turn in the national spotlight.

I know…….How about everyone who makes less then 5 million dollars gets a million dollar Stimulus check…………..I bet that gets you votes.

The real quesiton is what will government be like with Democrats in charge of all facets of the government. Is there any indication that the Democrats can avoid the problems of hubris that have destroyed the Repubican party. It is kind of hard to argue that an Obama administraiton will lead to change when Robert Byrd will still be in charge of the apporpriation process and that the current Senator Bidens and kennedy will be replaced n the Senator by the next generation of Kennedy and Biden.

Category 1. Most Liberals and other Obama Supporters loved it.

Category 2. Most Conservatives and other McCain supporters weren't impressed and happily so.

Category 3. Most Clinton supporters who hadn't already jumped on the Obama bandwagon probably wont as he did the bare minimum in courtesy towards her (The Obamas and Clinton really do seem to dislike each other).

Category 4. The independents and moderates who hadn't decided before the speech for the most part still haven't decided and will judge more by the upcoming head to head debates than speeches made with lofty rhetoric (Liberal or Conservative) from convention stages to the friendliest crowds imaginable, and where no assumption goes challenged.

There may be a categogy 5 as well, that of those who would make their decisions based on an election speech at a convention, but I generally don't associate with many folkes that shallow, although the popularity of American Idol does suggest that they exists.

On the other side, the criticisms were even more interesting. Only about two of them seemed to be significantly critical and yet do it in any substantive way. Strata-sphere throws out narcissism, santa claus complex, and the immediate banning of automobiles, which is just something random he or she made up; AtlasShrugs can barely type two sentences without name-calling (demoncrats, moochers, etc.); and Bob McCarty seems to be unable to step out of a talking point. I would have loved to see some real criticism of the speech from someone who seemed to have genuinely listened to it. A lot of Americans, for instance, have a libertarian streak for interest. Where's the critique about the dangers of various Obama proposals that doesn't devolve into insults and slanderous memes?

The genius of the American system of selecting it's keaders seems to be this:

That despite the mediocrity of the vast majority of its leaders (c.f. Bush, George W.), when extraordinary challenges face this nation it seems to respond by choosing extraordinary leaders (c.f. Washington, George; Lincoln, Abraham; Roosevelt, Franklin D.).

This election is a test of whether that genius continues to bless America, or whether cynicism and degradation have finally rotted it away.

Whether, against all likelihoods of birth and upbringing, America will yet again choose a leader to fit the times.

At least we now have that opportunity.

(Over the top? Probably. But damn I feel good).