The clouds didn't open. A choir didn't start singing. A ray of sunlight didn't come shining down.
But I'm pretty sure I said, "HALLELUJAH!" when Barack Obama uttered those four divine words tonight, "Sam Stein. Huffington Post."
David Sirota aptly called this a movement moment. It was also, to be clear, a historic moment--and a legitimizing moment--for an online progressive community that's been years in the making and tonight had its first chance to ask a President of the United States a question at a news conference.
Sam's question was co-equal in status to the traditional talking heads. But unlike so many other questions, his question represented a concern on the minds of millions of Americans that the DC chattering class largely resists talking about: Should Bush Administration officials be held accountable for violating the American rule of law? Sam--a consistently great reporter and an avid biker--asked his question with composure and professionalism:
Barack Obama and his media team deserve praise. It was obvious that Barack Obama had a pre-determined list of people to call on, meaning a conscious decision was made to make this a historic night.
Hopefully this trend continues by giving access to progressive blogs like DailyKos and OpenLeft, progressive talk shows like The Young Turks, and other progressive media outlets like the American Prospect, The Nation, and Mother Jones (a consortium of which are meeting in DC this very week -- hint, hint).
And hopefully we all send our congrats to Sam Stein and the Huffington Post for truly being part of history tonight. Can I get an Amen!