Yes You Can
For what it's worth, I've been with Obama from the start. I like John Edwards, but he just never really inspired me the way Obama has. Hillary Clinton, to be frank, just scares me. Not that it matters a jot what I think, of course, as I don't get to vote down there in the United States of Crazy.
If I wasn't already backing Obama, the speech he gave on the night of the New Hampshire primaries would have tipped me over the edge. Much has been written about his MLK Day speech and other moments of strong writing and strong delivery, and there have been some fine moments of oratory in the last few weeks, for sure. But it was this direct, simple appeal to hope - delivered on a night when he had just lost to Clinton - that lit up my imagination and made me think for the first time that Obama really might have a fighting chance.
Outstanding stuff.
Yes you can, America. Please - for all of us - do.
If I wasn't already backing Obama, the speech he gave on the night of the New Hampshire primaries would have tipped me over the edge. Much has been written about his MLK Day speech and other moments of strong writing and strong delivery, and there have been some fine moments of oratory in the last few weeks, for sure. But it was this direct, simple appeal to hope - delivered on a night when he had just lost to Clinton - that lit up my imagination and made me think for the first time that Obama really might have a fighting chance.
Even better than the original speech, Black Eyed Peas front man and producer, will.i.am, has done something remarkable - taking footage of the speech, rounding up a crew of his musician and celebrity friends (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Herbie Hancock, Scarlett Johansson, and others) and weaving an inspiring campaign song around it.We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.
We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.
For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.
Outstanding stuff.
Yes you can, America. Please - for all of us - do.
