When your opponent fails at even one dimensional reality.
Tonight we witnessed the collapse of any pretense to any skill on the part of GOPers to be credible on anything that matters to our Nation.
We now know we have a masterful President - what now needs to happen is for each of us to be masterful citizens.
Beyond all of the options he opened for those whom truly intend to create a major legislative overhaul of access to health care - and yes he opened doors for Rep Weiner and the Progressive Caucus - he established a moral compass for Congress and all of us.
He also defined what he expects and what he will not tolerate.
To wit:
But we did not come here just to clean up crises. We came here to build a future.
He cogently summarized our deplorably inhumane status in the world:
We are the only democracy -- the only advanced democracy on Earth -- the only wealthy nation -- that allows such hardship for millions of its people.
He then tells everyone what he will not tolerate:
Well, the time for bickering is over. The time for games has passed.
But know this: I will not waste time with those who have made the calculation that it's better politics to kill this plan than to improve it. (Applause.) I won't stand by while the special interests use the same old tactics to keep things exactly the way they are. If you misrepresent what's in this plan, we will call you out. (Applause.) And I will not -- and I will not accept the status quo as a solution. Not this time. Not now.
Then, the posthumous letter from Senator Kennedy:
Ted Kennedy ... had written it back in May, shortly after he was told that his illness was terminal. He asked that it be delivered upon his death.
In it, he spoke about what a happy time his last months were, thanks to the love and support of family and friends, his wife, Vicki, his amazing children, who are all here tonight. And he expressed confidence that this would be the year that health care reform -- "that great unfinished business of our society," he called it -- would finally pass. He repeated the truth that health care is decisive for our future prosperity, but he also reminded me that "it concerns more than material things." "What we face," he wrote, "is above all a moral issue; at stake are not just the details of policy, but fundamental principles of social justice and the character of our country."
I've thought about that phrase quite a bit in recent days -- the character of our country.
And, if anyone in that room had any question about whom the person Barack Obama is he could not have made it more clear - he explicitly connected the "character of our country" with his purpose, the purpose of all those who have joined with him since that bitter winter morning in Springfield in 2007:
That's not what we came here to do. We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it's hard. I still believe -- I still believe that we can act when it's hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility, and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things, and that here and now we will meet history's test.
Because that's who we are. That is our calling. That is our character.
Indeed it is.
We must now be masters, not of any game, but of shaping the future, for everyone.
We must not allow those stuck in the 1 dimension of 'me' to do any more damage to the vast dimensions of every person's life - especially those who need a helping hand.
Thank you.