Obama's speech

When I got off work today and got in the car, I heard the start of an eveningful-earful of commentary about Obama's speech today.  I had heard bits and pieces of the speech - the ones I heard were meaningful and well put.  And I heard everyone dissect every last bit of them.  From "he believes everything his pastor says" to racial diatribes to a comment that the speech was magnificent.  And I heard the talking heads debate whether or not Americans were smart enough to even understand what he was saying.

I watched it for myself tonight (because like most people I am smart enough to understand spoken word).  Taken as a whole, it has a message of hope for the future while acknowledging the past and what it means for the present.  I haven't heard a politician talk that honestly in awhile.  Taken as a whole it says that Obama is a loyal man, but not blindly loyal.  It shows that he can see beyond simple black and white, and not just in racial terms.  We can pick it apart all we want, we can support Obama or not, but the fact remains that the issues are real and need to be addressed.