On last night's Countdown on CSNBC,Keith Olbermann reported that Ben Stein and other right-wing pundits expressed outrage that Barack Obama addressed the people of Berlin outdoors, and 200,000 people took it upon themselves to show up for this event. Horror of horrors! Mr. Stein suggested that this was somehow reminiscent of Nazi rallies, implying some connection between Sen. Obama's candidacy and the danger of fascism. Typical wingnut use of innuendo. I am not writing this diary to bemoan the wingnuts' tendency to stoop to this kind of smear when they're running behind in the polls; we've learned to expect that.
What really disturbs me is their ignorance of history. Since this kind of commentary will doubtless repeat itself when Sen. Obama accepts his party's nomination in front of 75,000+ people in Denver next month, we need to set the record straight. This will not be the first time that a presidential nominee has accepted his party's nomination in front of a large outdoor crowd. On June 27, 1936 Franklin D. Roosevelt accepted the Democratic nomination, addressing a crowd of over 100,000 people at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. It was, in my opinion, the greatest acceptance speech ever delivered, bar none. This is the famous "rendezvous with destiny" speech. In the space of 28 minutes, FDR brilliantly and eloquently stated why it was essential to make innovative use of our democratic institutions in a time of peril in our country and abroad. These words still ring true today.
The audio of this speech is available to download at the University of Virginia Miller Center website. I strongly recommend that you give it a listen, in its entirety. More so, I hope that Mr. Stein and his wingnut cohort do the same. Then, they will know what they should REALLY be afraid of. If we Kossacks think Barack hit one out of the park in Berlin, wait till he gets to Denver. I don't know if he'll top the great FDR, but it's going to be one hell of a speach.
Sen. Obama is expressing the thoughts that millions of Americans have felt for years but could not articulate. He is helping us to find our voice. That's why huge crowds come to see him. Does anyone really think that such multitudes would bother to show up to see McCain? That's what these wingnuts are REALLY afraid of.