The Second Most Important Speech Obama Has Ever given

I think. Read the whole thing here.

He has raised the bar on foreign policy vision for all the other candidates. I think he's really taken it to Hillary with this. It is bold and brilliant on many levels and puts a real shot to the meme that he is without ideas and is running on a theme (hope) and his person.

I like this very much. It gets beyond a move towards isolationism nor the stupidity of the current administration's failed policies and strategies:

So I reject the notion that the American moment has passed. I dismiss the cynics who say that this new century cannot be another when, in the words of President Franklin Roosevelt, we lead the world in battling immediate evils and promoting the ultimate good. I still believe that America is the last, best hope of Earth. We just have to show the world why this is so. This President may occupy the White House, but for the last six years the position of leader of the free world has remained open. And it's time to fill that role once more.

My only critique would be an over reliance on the ability to control certain nuclear proliferation spreads. Although God willing something on that front could be achieved and certainly many rational steps can be taken at least to secure sites.

Here some Barnett in this line?:

And America must lead by reaching out to all those living disconnected lives of despair in the world's forgotten corners - because while there will always be those who succumb to hate and strap bombs to their bodies, there are millions more who want to take another path - who want our beacon of hope to shine its light their way.

Or this one?:

A 21st century military will also require us to invest in our men and women's ability to succeed in today's complicated conflicts. We know that on the streets of Baghdad, a little bit of Arabic can actually provide security to our soldiers. Yet, just a year ago, less than 1% of the American military could speak a language such as Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, Urdu, or Korean. It's time we recognize these as critical skills for our military, and it's time we recruit and train for them.

And more importantly:

One of the Navy captains who helps run the base recently told a reporter, "Our mission is at least 95 percent civil affairs. It's trying to get at the root causes of why people want to take on the U.S.'' The Admiral now in charge of the Task Force suggested that if they can provide dignity and opportunity to the people in that region, then, "the chance of extremism being welcomed greatly, if not completely, diminishes."

And lastly his claim to be the President:

It's time we had a President who can do this again - who can speak directly to the world, and send a message to all those men and women beyond our shores who long for lives of dignity and security that says "You matter to us. Your future is our future. And our moment is now." It's time, as well, for a President who can build a consensus at home for this ambitious but necessary course. For in the end, no foreign policy can succeed unless the American people understand it and feel a stake in its success - and unless they trust that their government hears their more immediate concerns as well.

Ask yourself who can fulfill that role, for Obama has named it perfectly. That is what 2008 is about above all else.

tags technorati : barack obama