POLITICS: Obama's Springfield Speech

"And as people have looked away in disillusionment and frustration, we know what's filled the void. The cynics, and the lobbyists, and the special interests who've turned our government into a game only they can afford to play. They write the checks and you get stuck with the bills, they get the access while you get to write a letter, they think they own this government, but we're here today to take it back. The time for that politics is over. It's time to turn the page."---Senator Barack Obama

Obama really knocked it out of the park today as he declared his presidential candidacy, sounding even more like Bobby Kennedy than he has before. What I liked best was the overall global tone of the speech while still wrapping it as a conversation with Americans. It was as if he was saying to the rest of the world that not all Americans are bigoted goons and war mongering fuckwads, while reassuring those of us who don't happen to be bigoted goons and war mongering fuckwads that we are not alone and someone is on our side. A hell of a lot more inspiring than anything yet to come out of the mouths of Edwards or Clinton. I also dug his very shrewd and JFK-like generational call to arms. The Baby Boomers have had their two shots with Clinton & Bush, time for the generational political torch to be passed. One has to believe the kids can't possibly screw things up more than my generation has.