Today's Stories

April 30, 2008

Michael Hudson
The Fed Sinks the Dollar

April 30, 2008

William P. O'Connor
The Day I Lost My Innocence

Bob Fitrakis /
Harvey Wasserman
Did the Supreme Court Just Elect John McCain?

Tariq Ali
Storming Heaven: 1968 Revisited

John Ross
Bad Jazz in NOLA: Three NAFTA Leaders Sit It for the Last Time

Glen Ford
Pop Goes the Race-Neutral Campaign!

Joshua Frank
Election Season Piffle: Thinking Outside the Voting Booth

Ashley Smith
Iraq After Basra

Robert Weissman
Medical R&D That Works in the Developing World

Sen. Russ Feingold
Bush's Shroud of Secrecy

Website of the Day
Richard Nixon, April 30, 1970

April 29, 2008

Uri Avnery
The Military Option

Roedad Khan
Why Gen. Musharraf Must Go

Chris Floyd
The Torture Election

Paul Craig Roberts
The Iraq War Morphs Into the Iran War

Dave Lindorff
Invasion of the Pumpheads

Mats Svensson
Mental Barriers in Palestine

Peter Morici
Will the Fed Broaden Its Focus?

Mike Ferner
Inside American Royalty's Security Bubble

John Weisheit
Towing Icebergs to San Pedro

Amit Srivastava
China Olympics, Tibet Crackdown, Coke Profits

Website of the Day
Tom Friedman Gets Creamed

April 28, 2008

JoAnn Wypijewski
On Queen's Boulevard, the Night Sean Bell's Killers Got Off

Mike Whitney
Jeremiah Wright Delivers the Knockout Punch: But Will It Topple Obama?

Iris Keltz
The Fruiting Fig Tree: Memories of East Jerusalem

Steve Niva
The New Walls of Baghdad: the Israeli Model Surges Toward Iraq

David Macaray
CAFTA's Bloodtrails

John Ross
"Adelitas" Shut Down Mexico's Congress

Stephen Lendman
The Politics of Green Scare

Malou Innocent
On "Withdrawing Responsibly" from Iraq

Christopher Brauchli
Want to Learn the Ins-and-Outs of the Slumping Economy? Just Ask Ashley ...

William Kaufman
Michael Moore's Embrace of Obama: a Polemic Devoid of Politics

Website of the Day
Get Your Fix

April 26 / 27, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Nothing Will Get Hillary Out of the Race

Ralph Nader
A World of Hunger

Peter Camejo
A Crying Shame: the Wages of Left Capitulation

Harvey Wasserman
Making You Pay for the Next Chernobyl--in Advance!

Franklin Lamb
Will U.S. Policy in Lebanon and the Middle East Ever Change?

Wajahat Ali
Fisk Fighting: an Exclusive Interview with Robert Fisk

Mike Whitney
Food Riots and Speculators

Andrew Wimmer
Obliterate Them!

David Yearsley
Nero, Frederick the Great, Nixon ... They All Did It Better Than Clinton

Greg Moses
Chicago: the Stupid Experiment

Ron Jacobs
Walking the Lonely Road

Robert Fantina
Bush v. Carter: Let History Judge

Missy Comley Beattie
Introducing President McCain

Linn Cohen-Cole
The Criminalization of Raw Milk: a Mennonite Farmer is Hauled Away

Paul Krassner
Remembering Ruben Salazar

Jeffrey St. Clair
Booked Up

Poets' Basement
Buknatski, Khaiyat, Lair, and Kowit

Website of the Weekend
Justice for Sean Bell

April 25, 2008

George Ciccariello-Maher
Embedded with the Tupamaros

Dave Lindorff
The Bitter and the Biased: How Clinton Courted Racists in Pennsylvania

Franklin Lamb
The Israeli Project Has Failed in Lebanon

Alan Farago
Hacking the Development Code: the Politics of Zoning in Florida

John W. Farley
Syiran Nukes: the Phantom Menace

Kathleen M. Barry
Some Questions for "Femininists for Clinton:" Is There Really Any Difference Between Hillary and Condi?

Mohammed Alireza
Cowboys and Iranians

Nick Dearden
Haiti and the Black Hole of Debt

Carmelo Ruiz Marrero
Why Biotech is Betting on Biofuels

Bruce Springsteen
Farewell to Danny

Website of the Day
It's Bigger Than Hip Hop

April 24, 2008

Linn Washington, Jr.
Duplicity Demeans Clinton Campaign (or When Bill Praised Farrakhan)

Franklin Lamb
Bush to Nasrallah: an Offer Hezbollah Cannot Refuse?

Jennifer Van Bergen
The High Crimes of John Yoo: the President's Executioner

Joanne Mariner
U.S. Hypocrisy and the Malaysian Guantánamo

Mark Engler
Trade Politics and the Battle for the Soul of the Democratic Party

Dave Lindorff
The Politics of Obliteration: Hillary's Monstrous Threat

John Blair
Obama's Missed Opportunities in Evansville: Did He Even Know It Was Earth Day?

De Clarke / Stan Goff
Politics is Food is Politics

Binoy Kampmark
Bowling for Boris: the Tories, Red Ken and the London Mayoral Race

Philippe Marlière
Sarkozy and the Specter of May 68

Peter Morici
The Bank of England Misses the Point

Website of the Day
Fair Food Nation

April 23, 2008

Cockburn / St. Clair
Straggling to Denver

Vijay Prashad
McCain's Mask

Paul Craig Roberts
What the Iraq War is About

Stephen Soldz
The Involuntary Drugging of U.S. Detainees

Laura Santina
Hillary: Another Feminist Perspective

John Stauber /
Sheldon Rampton
Pentagon News Networks

Dave Lindorff
What Double Digit Win? Media Round Up in PA

George Ciccariello-Maher
Radical Chavismo Growls a Challenge

Ralph Nader
Andy Stern's Rackets

John Weisheit
Rearranging Deck Chairs at Glen Canyon Dam

Website of the Day
Wal-Mart's "Cost of Admission"

April 22, 2008

David Isenberg
Spinning Saddam's Linkages

Stan Cox
The Political Economics of Greenwashing

David Macaray
Memo to the Clinton Campaign: They Are Still Murdering Labor Unionists in Colombia

Jeff Birkenstein
Playing the Opposite Game: Or Why Can't I Sell Out?

Mike Whitney
Memo to Bernanke: Enough With the Rate Cuts, Already!

Nikolas Kozloff
Bush's Paraguayan Fiasco

Floyd Rudmin
From Lhasa to Bilbao: Journey of a Double Standard

Carlos Villarreal
Why John Yoo Should be Dismissed From Boalt Law School--And Prosecuted

Ray McGovern
What About the War, Pope Benedict?

Michael Gould-Wartofsky
El Barrio Fights Back Against Globalized Gentrification

Robert Ovetz
A Fish Tale

Pat Wolff
Rightwing Power Grab in Cornhusker State

Website of the Day
Defend the Rutgers 3!

April 21, 2008

Bill Quigley
The U.S. Role in Haiti's Food Riots

Uri Avnery
The Lion and the Gazelle

Dave Lindorff
The U.S. Economy and the Costs of War

Wajahat Ali
Finding Osama Bin Laden with Morgan Spurlock

Andy Worthington
Hollow Gestures at Guantánamo

Robert Jensen
The Sorrows of Race and Gender

Ron Jacobs
Clampdown at Evergreen

Dan Bacher
The Great Salmon Closure

Harvey Wasserman
Where's George?

Danny Alexander
Remembering Danny Federici

Website of the Day
Save Our Taco Trucks!

April 19 / 20, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
McCain: What Really Happened When He Was a POW?

Patrick Cockburn
A New Struggle is Beginning in Iraq

Wajahat Ali
Zinn Speaks

Andrew Wimmer
Papal Benedictions

Rev. William E. Alberts
Jeremiah Wright and America's Continuing "Separate and Unequal" Societies

David Rosen
Texas Two-Step: The Polygamy Raid and the Regulation of Sexual Life

Robert Fantina
McCain Detests War?

Ramzy Baroud
The Politics of Armageddon: McCain's Pastors and the Middle East

Saul Landau
The No Escape Clause on Iraq

Dr. Susan Block
Raelians, Aliens and Evolution

David Yearsley
Suitcase Arias and Ithacan Jazz

Phyllis Pollack
On the Red Carpet with the Rolling Stones

Jeffrey St. Clair
Booked Up

Poets' Basement
Hartz, Newberry and Khaiyat

April 18, 2008

John Ross
The Bush Legacy: Losing Latin America

Dave Lindorff
Courage and Conviction: In Praise of Bill Ayers

Dan Glazebrook
An Interview with Robert Fisk

Carl Finamore
A Look Inside the Hangars

Rannie Amiri
J Street: Do We Really Need Another Pro-Israel Lobby?

Richard Morse
A Creepy Roadblock at Midnight

Ko Young-dae
CONPLAN 8022: Inside Bush's Nuclear War Plan for the Korean Peninsula

Farooq Sulehria
A Himalayan Surprise

April 17, 2008

Michael Hudson
Hillary Joins the Vast Rightwing Financial Conspiracy

Robert Bryce
The Ethanol Apologists

Kathy Kelly
Weary of War? Don't Collaborate

Madis Senner
The Carrion Feeders' Ball: How Hedge Funds Reap Billions Off Economic Misery

Peter Morici
The G7, the Banks and GE

Ron Jacobs
Washington, al-Maliki and the Militias

William S. Lind
A Confirming Moment in Basra

James Murren
Obama's Disconnect with Small Town America

Ben Terrall
Losing Haiti

Walter Brasch
Political Log Rolling in Clinton County, PA

Website of the Day
Stealth Attack: Homegrown "Terrorism" Bill

April 16, 2008

Bill Kauffman
The Candidates from Nowhere

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Colonization and Massacres

Saul Landau
How to Leave Iraq

Peter Morici
McCain's Economic Plan: GOP Out of Ideas (But So are the Democrats)

Eric Toussaint /
Damien Millet
Bankers Saved, Human Rights Sacrificed

Jeff Ballinger
Inside Nike's Asian Sweatshops: Squeezed Vietnamese Workers Strike Back

David Macaray
Union Strikes and Replacement Workers

Gary Leupp
Electoral Revolution in Nepal

Richard Morse
The Food Riots in Haiti

George Ciccariello-Maher
Einstein Turns in His Grave

Dave Lindorff
Letters from the Bitter Belt

Website of the Day
Surviving Prozac

April 15, 2008

Ralph Nader
The Politics of Distraction in an Age of Gotcha Capitalism

Uri Avnery
Manifest Destiny and Israel

Brian Cloughley
Arrogant Lies

David Price
Outrageous Pre-Tour de France Ban

Joe Bageant
Bitter America: Media Shit Storms and Heartland Reality

Steve Early
The Purple Punch-Out in Dearborn

Mats Svensson
To Create Something from Nothing: the Making of a Palestinian State

Michael Donnelly
Dead-Eye Hil and the Elitist

April Howard /
Benjamin Dangl
Dissecting the Politics of Paraguay's Next President

Laray Polk
Let's Not Put the Torch in a Bubble

Charles Modiano
What Does a Woman Have to Do to Get on the Cover of Sports Illustrated?

Website of the Day
The $3 Trillion Shopping Spree

April 14, 2008

Carl Finamore
Airline Deregulation Makes a Hard Landing

Michael Hudson
A Trillion Dollar Rescue for Wall Street Gamblers

M. Shahid Alam
Hizbullah's Big Win: Has Israel Finally Met Its Match?

Patrick Cockburn
A Cleric, a Pol and a Warrior

Paul Craig Roberts
Petraeus Sets Up Iran

Joanne Mariner
Redition to Jordan: What Happens When the Gloves Come Off?

Martha Rosenberg
Suicide and Cymbalta

Dave Lindorff
The Bitterness Thing: Is Obama Channeling Nader

P. Sainath
Hot Messages to Sex Dancer Doom Condi's New Finnish Pal

John V. Whitbeck
On Hypocrisy Over Tibet: a Personal Reflection

Website of the Day
Spying on Environmental Groups

April 12 / 13, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Olympic Torch Toasts US Candidates

Patrick Cockburn
Warlord: the Rise of Muqtada al-Sadr

Mike Whitney
Want to Save the Economy?

David Yearsley
Film Scores and Westerns: the Stealth Cavalry of Empire

Robert Fantina
Bush's Brand of Morality

Conn Hallinan
Another Defining Moment in Iraq

Bill Hatch
In Praise of Hippies and the Counter-Culture

Ramzy Baroud
The Basra Battles

George S. Hishmeh
Back to Square One

Ron Jacobs
The New New Left in Latin America

Nikolas Kozloff
Olympic Torch in Buenos Aires

Charles Thomson
The British Prime Minister and the Tate's Tin of Shit

Alexander Billet
The Disney-fication of CBGB

Missy Beattie
Huffing and Puffing to Failure

David Michael Green
America's Jones for War

Seth Sandronsky
Education Entrepreneurs

Prairie Miller
Meeting David Wilson

Jeffrey St. Clair
Booked Up

Poets' Basement
Ko Un, Ibn Salma and Greaves

Website of the Weekend
Americans United for Palestinian Human Rights

April 11, 2008

Nikolas Kozloff
The Clintons and Their Sordid Colombia Advocacy

Wajahat Ali
Revenge of the Ghetto Nerd: an Exclusive Interview with Junot Diaz

Sharon Smith
Let Them Eat Ethanol!

Yigal Bronner / Neve Gordon
Digging for Trouble: the Politics of Archaeology in East Jerusalem

Alan Farago
Eating South Florida

Dave Lindorff
On Waking Sleeping Giants: Lessons for America from China

George Wuerthner
Money for Nothing? The Problems with the Conservation Reserve Program

Christopher Brauchli
Prostitutes Don't Do Funerals

Website of the Day
Animals Explain the Insurance Industry: a Health Care Video

April 10, 2008

Mathieu Vernerey
Tibet for the Tibetans!

Elizabeth Schulte
Slavery in the Fields

David Macaray
Labor Unions Will Never Get a Fair Shake

Ashley Smith
The Rise of Muqtada al-Sadr

Peter Morici
Driving Up Debt and Dragging Down Growth

Jacob Hornberger
The Military's Distintegrating Family Life

Harold Austin
Snitch or Else: Prison Officials Threaten Gang Drop Outs

Website of the Day
Hillary: the Wal-Mart Videos

April 9, 2008

Paul Craig Roberts
The Fading American Economy

Winslow T. Wheeler
Congressional Theater: the Petraeus / Crocker Hearings

C. Hand
Why Dave Marash Left Al Jazeera

Paul Krassner
Sex and Violins

Paul Wolf
Colombian "Magnicidio" Remains a Mystery After 60 Years

Wajahat Ali
Alien Invasion!

Karyn Strickler
Lost in the Fumes: the Sierra Club Sells Out to Clorox

Dan La Botz
Confronting the Economic Crisis

Eric Walberg
The Shadow of Munich: Another NATO Flop

Robin Millenthal
Enough Already! Growth and the Tar Sands Economy

Website of the Day
Conservative Nanny State

April 8, 2008

Mike Whitney
Should Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be Set Free?

Nikolas Kozloff
Bush Bullies Congress on Colombia Deal

Greg Moses
Migrant Detention in South Texas

Joshua Frank
The Other Military Draft

John Ross
Mexico City's Urban Tribes Go on the Warpath Against EMOS

Michael Donnelly
Hillary's Western Swing

John V. Walsh
Why Obama Lost Massachusetts

Jeff Nygaard
Health, Security and Mandates

Bill Piper
Last Shot for a Bush Legacy?

Sen. Russ Feingold
Legal Representation and the Death Penalty

Website of the Day
Catonsville 9, Forty Years Later

April 7, 2008

Ishmael Reed
The Irish Black Thing

Harry Browne
Irish Peace Activist Acquitted; Deported

Uri Avnery
Tibet and Palestine

Lenni Brenner
Obama's Constitution, His Pastor and His Unbelieving Mom in Heaven

Ayesha Ijaz Khan
America Must Respect Pakistan's Democracy

Robert Fisk
Fearful Lives in the Land of the Free

Edwin Krales
Ensuring the Success of Fascism in Spain: the US Corporate Role

Chris Genovali
Vancouver Island's Dwindling Ancient Forests

Website of the Day
LA Artists Against War

April 5 / 6, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Did the Elites Want MLK Dead?

Ramzy Baroud
There are No Checkpoints in Heaven

Ralph Nader
Runaway Bailouts

David Yearsley
How Scott Joplin Had Wall Street Down

Saul Landau
Sex Politics in America

Paul Craig Roberts
The Petraeus and Crocker Show

Lawrence Korb / Ian Moss
Rev. Jeremiah Wright, a True Patriot

Seth Sandronsky
Meet America's Promise Alliance: Colin Powell's New Gig

John Ross
La Cumbia de la Doctrina Bush: Colombia Kills Four Mexican Students in Ecuador Bombing

Robert Fantina
McCain, Republicans and Family Values

David Michael Green
Back to Disaster: Hoover at Home, Tet Abroad

Missy Beattie
McCan't

Patrick Bond
Vultures Circle Zimbabwe

Dr. Susan Block
The New American Pot Dealers

Phyllis Pollack
The Stones Meet the Press

Adam Engel
The Boobus in the Lie

Jeffrey St. Clair
Booked Up

Poets' Basement
Diamand and St. Clair

Website of the Weekend
Richard Pryor Goes to the Gun Shop

Subscribe Online

What Obama Might Have Said

The Speech That Might Have Been

By MANUEL GARCIA, Jr.

Barack Obama, one of two Democratic Party contenders for the presidency of the United States of America, has issued stinging rebukes of his now former pastor, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright of Chicago, after Wright’s most recent sermons, speeches and interviews, notably for Bill Moyer’s Journal (on television) and to the National Press Club and the NAACP. An excellent analysis of the situation was given by Glen Ford, the editor of Black Agenda Report. A transcript of Wright’s address to the NAACP makes the nature of his ideas and the tone of his delivery quite clear. A selection of Wright’s “bon mots” of recent days is provided by AP. To reasonable and thinking minds, there is little in all this to become hysterical over. Of course, such reasonable and thinking minds must also be capable of acknowledging truth. What follows is the speech that might have been, which presumes a finite possibility for the materialization of the fantasy presented.

* * *

And now, Barack Obama steps up to the podium...

“My fellow Americans, in every life there comes a time of testing, when the imperatives of ambition and imminent success unexpectedly come face to face with the heart and fiber of a person’s character. That time has come for me. My campaign strategists along with many outside political experts and commentators, as well as many of my supporters, tell me that in order for my presidential campaign to retain the financial and political support of a sufficient number of white Americans in the higher economic classes and in the corporate sector I must cut any connection to the historical memory and moral vision of Black America and those who loudly proclaim it like the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. If I fail to make this separation, I am told, then I must soon relinquish the national attention I now enjoy, and so lose any further opportunities to convince most of you, the American people, for taking entirely new directions of public policy in every aspect of American life.

“The aims of all my arguments are the same: to find socially just and ethical balances between all the legitimate competing interests surrounding each major national issue. My aims are to restore peace, the rule of law, a clear and evident social and economic justice, and an equitable prosperity as soon as possible. The issues before us are plain as day: national health security, national home security, national fiscal security, a rapid end to all our wars and an unstinting rehabilitation of our troops, a return to the rule of law without exception, and a return to internationally recognized legal and moral standards for the conduct of our national policies.

"Beyond the need to resolve the multiple disasters and crises brought on by the incompetence, myopia, corruption and malevolence of the current Bush Administration, we need to elect a new generation of Democratic legislators and governors, people of vision who will work with us to plan and implement national strategies for dealing with the looming problems of climate change, sustainable food production, poverty and hunger in much of the world, drug-resistant diseases and epidemics, the development of new non-polluting sources of energy, and providing for a host of social needs of the American people. My campaign is about restoring American honor and American democracy by bringing the government back into the business of serving the needs of the American people, by restoring democratic institutions and practices, and by returning to civilized norms of behavior in the conduct of government business.

“I believe I am by far the best candidate to lead this nation today, but to fully justify that claim I must to speak to you plainly. That would require that I choose character over ambition and thus, in the eyes of so many, jeopardize my chances for winning the Presidency. It is no simple thing to throw out the chance of winning the widest support to carry the election. Millions of people look upon me as a symbol of their hopes for change in America, and for many Black Americans, the election of one of their number to the highest office in the land would be a most joyful event. But, could we really celebrate hollow symbolics without real substance? If the manner in which I were to become elected was to garner such a weak level of support from a larger white population that they would never support my policy initiatives when Republicans and other mean-spirited factions called them “too black,” too socially-oriented, or too indulgent to under-educated and minority people whom many may resent because they require public assistance, or even targeted services allowing them to successfully enter the educational, labor and professional mainstream, then what would be the point of my presidency?, to put a black mask on a continuation of the failed governance of today?  

“My beautiful wife, and best friend, told me ‘You tell me the truth, and I love you for it. Why not give the American people that chance.’ So, I will choose character because it it so liberating. I beg pardon of my hard-working strategists and many campaign workers and supporters. But, please try to understand: when you work from your core principles rather than purely for tactical advantage, even at the risk of losing an honorable and important campaign, you never have a hesitation at looking into the mirror, there is never a sign of reproach in the eyes of the one you love, you are free. Forty-five years ago, when Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamed of an America where people were judged ‘not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,’ he envisioned that the experience of such ethical enlightenment would be ‘Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last.’

“So now, plainly, why I am the best choice for your next president, I list three items:

"Item 1. I am a black man in America, and through my veins flows the blood and history, the anguish and insight, the aspirations and exuberance, the hunger, the sparkle, the earthiness, the poetry, the passion, the jazz, and the brotherhood that is the pulsing, prideful life of Black America. This is my root, my core, my pride. No apologies are necessary nor will be given, and no separation will occur. There are many Black commentators who express the anguish and frustrations inherent in the American Black experience with a passion and even anger that resonates with the sentiments of millions of black Americans. But, rarely does an angry delivery elicit a willingness for further listening by people outside the community expressing itself, and such a delivery, however justified, could be counterproductive in that it causes a wider public to become defensive and to distance itself, rather than attentive and willing to consider some responsibilities in the matters being presented. My approach is different, my aim is to bridge this gap for the betterment of the nation, and it is not -- I repeat not -- to drop these matters from consideration merely to advance my political career. Let me also add the following, I will not accede to demands by the media that I verbally and publicly beat up another black man, whom it has chosen to dislike, as some condition of gaining their editorial approval of me. To my brothers and sisters and all my supporters, let me say this: the exercise of character always carries a price, but self-respect is priceless.

"Item 2. I am my white mother’s son, the blood of white America runs through my veins, and with it a network of family rooted in the heartland and the history of this country. I am a crossroads, a confluence of two rivers of consciousness of the American experience. I have the advantage of perspective across racial categories that can only be gained by actually embodying the marriage of two cultures. Within myself, I understand the many human and humane commonalties that underlie our simplistic categorizations of race and culture, because I have to live it. And I live it joyfully. This is my unique advantage. I want to bring the joyfulness of this understanding, into the practicalities of operating the government, to pull us out of today’s disasters and to point us in the direction of preparing intelligently for our collective futures so each and every one of us feels “free at last, free at last.”

"Item 3. With my family’s help, and by my own efforts, I have become a very successful individual at an early age. I have learned how to maneuver through the educational, professional and business sectors of American life. I understand how success happens, and I understand what people need to be successful. I am able to command the attention of managers, academics and professionals because I know how these communities operate, and what they each want. Also, I know what any individual willing to work requires in the way of opportunity, to prosper and become better able to contribute to the well-being of their family and of the nation. I know how to cut deals, and I know what kinds of deals are worth cutting. A good president has vision to guide his initiative, and some tactical and deal-making savvy to bring about practical results. My vision comes from my blended heritage, my political insight and deal-making savvy come from my education and success in business. I know that I can translate an inclusive vision into efficient and thoroughly helpful practicalities, if I have dependable public support.

"These are my three items. The Republican candidate for the presidency, along with the other Democratic Party contender, are exponents of the failures we are living with today. If you want more of the same, you know where to go.

"So, I ask for your support, not on the basis of skin color, or gender, but on the basis of character. Judge me for that. If you dislike what I look like, who I know, or any part my heritage and living experience, well then you will find others to support. Certainly, I want to be elected, and certainly, I want a majority of the American people to approve of me. But, I want an authentic approval. I want an approval that backs up the practical implementation of an entirely new direction for this country. I do not want to be black window dressing on the same worn-out policies of today. I want most of you to vote for me because you want what I want, and have stated here. If most of you do, then we can accomplish our vision. Our greatness as a nation lies in our willingness to appreciate each other. That is our unity. Now, let us bring it to life.”   

* * *

Well, I’m unlikely to find employment as a speech writer, but I suspect you get the point. Barack had the chance to elevate himself without having to ritually kick another black man, and he had the chance to gain wider public support on the basis of straight talk and honesty with the public. As we have seen, the politically prudent tactics are just the opposite, and what this says about the nation is too depressing to elaborate on further. I think Barack is still the leading contender for the presidency, despite the default racial preference of much of the male and older electorate for a white man, even if dysfunctional (again) like McCain, and despite the Lady MacBeth ego-centrism of Hillary Clinton and her mad efforts to castrate the Obama campaign. However, I do not see an Obama landslide of sufficient magnitude to inspire him to advance a major progressive agenda. He would have to have given a speech like this for that to be a possibility.

Manuel Garcia, Jr. can be reached at mango@idiom.com. He likes Ralph Nader’s speeches best.