7.03.2009

July 4 prelude

Feeling...political, which is just what I need to infuse myself with a sense of purpose. Here are 2 of my favorite speeches from last year's election season.

Dennis Kucinch's Wake Up America! number at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Fighting the good fight.



Barack Obama's keynote at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, or the one that turned me into a believer. I have distinct memories of catching that speech midway through and being dumbfounded not only by his ability to identify certain problems plaguing the country but his willingness to articulate them. Few politicians before him could so boldly proclaim the simple truth that we need to "eradicate the slander that a black youth with a book is acting white" or that when "an Arab American family [is] rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process that threatens my civil liberties." Powerful. True.