If Barack Obama had come out and read the phone book at last week's Democratic convention, it would have been an historical event. But Obama did something amazing last Thursday and what he actually said would have been historical if spoken by any candidate.
His acceptance speech was nothing less than a redefining of what it means to be a Democrat, and what it means to be an American. It was a long overdue restoration of our national purpose - and what had traditionally been the purpose of the Democratic party until post Reagan Democrats decided we needed to be a lot more like Reagan.
With these words, "I am my brothers keeper", Barack Obama rejected the doctrine of Bill Clinton's New Democrat individualism, and resurrected the covenant of FDR's New Deal.
It was an historic moment for our party, and for our country. And it completely went unnoticed.
Then, before the next sun had set, Obama's historic speech was drowned out by what can only be described as a mass hysteria over a largely insignificant woman from Alaska who only ten years earlier was sneaking to the mall to get a glimpse of Ivana Trump.
I weep for my country. I have no expectations that the whores on television will do anything but what they're paid to do - distract. If I turn on my TV, it's almost as though Obama's historic speech never occurred. And certainly never any discussion about the meaning of what was said. This is their job. Make sure the American people never get presented with anything substantial lest they might start feeling empowered. But I had hoped for more from the progressive netroots.
I support the function of open source opposition research. I call it accountability. And if the corporate press won't do it, we have no choice. But I am saddened that we've allowed our blood lust over the person from Alaska to allow us to almost disappear Obama and what transpired last week.
A lot of people are always making the case that this election is a do or die election. And when president John McCain is even a remote possibility, a little politics of fear is in order.
But please, please do not lose sight of the fact that, as bad as McCain is, we still have a lot more to fight for then we do to fight against. Obama is not just NOT John McCain. He is offering perhaps one last chance to make this a thriving, prosperous democracy.
His invocation of the obligations of social responsibility is not just inspiring rhetoric. It is a dramatic renunciation of a sick and immoral social and economic philosophy that has been year in the making. It began as a radical, fringe rightwing idea and with billions of dollars in corporate cash has been pushed further and further into the mainstream.
It is the idea that Alan Greenspan and Bob Rubin presented to Bill Clinton only days before he took office in January 1993: let the free market solve society's ills, not the government. The market is the true democracy, not elections. Social responsibility is dead. Individualism is the new social compact. The government will protect your right to be on your own.
This was great for Wall Street. It has been a disaster for everyone else. Even low income Republicans who don't know better.
Obama's call for a new compact is, I believe, the most profound and important element of his campaign. And it is a campaign that must win.
There are people here that are trying to convince you that this has to be a campaign of personality and that the "issues" won't win. They are wrong, and right.
Issues won't win it. People are not going to vote on Obama's health care plan. But they will vote on the real sense that something different is happening here. This is what won Obama the primary and brought in so many Republicans. A real sense that this time, we have a chance for real change and not just the usual bullshit politicians spew from their forked tongues.
Barack Obama is not just another politician. He is a once in a life time opportunity. He is a chance for real change. Don't ever forget it. Spread it far and wide.