Obama's Father Day Speech

Greatest. Father’s Day. Speech. Ever. Can you even imagine McCain making a similar speech? Can you imagine him even conceiving of the following words:

I screwed up more often than I should’ve, but I got plenty of second chances. And even though we didn’t have a lot of money, scholarships gave me the opportunity to go to some of the best schools in the country. A lot of kids don’t get these chances today. There is no margin for error in their lives. So my own story is different in that way.

This is what I love about Obama: he understands what opportunity is. Opportunity isn’t just a platitude in Obama’s rhetoric, it corresponds to real advantages in his life that he knows other people weren’t lucky enough to have, and he’ll tell you about them. And then there was this part:

You know, sometimes I’ll go to an eighth-grade graduation and there’s all that pomp and circumstance and gowns and flowers. And I think to myself, it’s just eighth grade. To really compete, they need to graduate high school, and then they need to graduate college, and they probably need a graduate degree too. An eighth-grade education doesn’t cut it today. Let’s give them a handshake and tell them to get their butts back in the library!

Obama is clearly plagiarizing my mother here (she hates elementary school graduations), but I don’t think she’ll mind. Obama also cites Chris Rock:

I don’t know if you guys remember, Chris Rock had a routine. He said some-too many of our men, they’re proud, they brag about doing things they’re supposed to do. They say “Well, I’m not in jail.” Well you’re not supposed to be in jail! Don’t brag about that. You know, so we’re glad that you’re in the home, but engage your child.

Effing brilliant.

Comments

[Emily]

I'm hearing some murmurs that the Republicans are trying to cast this speech as a rehash of Bill Cosby's controversial speech. The tone is completely different, but they are going to try to get black people saying Obama doesn't know what it's like to be black (again). I hope they only call more attention to this speech so people can see for themselves how much he loves family and how deeply he believes in responsibility. Because the government that's letting poisoned tomatoes onto our dinner plates surely doesn't.

[Mxrk]

One of the great things about YouTube is that, unlike the nightly news, or even the 24 hour news channels, it lets people see the entirety of a speech or interview. That's one of the things Obama has going for him, that when he makes a speech like this that's powerful and enthralling, people can watch the whole thing when the right starts trying to recast it with out-of-context clips or straight-up lies.

[Divus Narcoleptus]

And he has a snappy website too. Lotsa video.