This is where the spin, the media's filter comes into play. You saw that on the faces of the chatterboxes after the speech. The white pundits looked morose. They didn't know how to spin it. The black pundits were thrilled. Impressed. Without expressly pointing out the media, he did call them to task over their gossipy ways and their involvement in talking about nothing, while the important issues that truly affect our lives are ignored

It took me awhile to figure out why they looked so beaten.  Then when Buchanan tried to get back on the old story, the look on Scarborough's face said it all:  That horse is dead.  The vultures tried to pick it clean, but Obama just lifted it up and buried it with dignity.  

As I said before, anyone who doesn't see what this speech just did is heavily invested in their hate.  I've seen comments from people who've made it clear that they oppose Obama because of his skin color try to attack this speech.  Even their fellow Clinton supporters are asking them to stop because they do look petty and small.

The entire time watching it though, I wondered what Clinton's reaction would be.  Over at TPM they have this statement from her:

"I did not have a chance to see or to read yet Sen. Obama's speech. But I'm very glad that he gave it. It's an important topic. Issues of race and gender in America have been complicated throughout our history, and they are complicated in this primary campaign.

"There have been detours and pitfalls along the way. But we should remember that this is an historic moment for the Democratic Party, and for our country. We will be nominating the first African-American or woman for the Presidency of the United States, and that is something that all Americans can and should celebrate."

Pure Clinton through and through. But I tell you what, there is no way Clinton could have given a speech like this.  She lacks the charisma and believability to pull it off.  Even if it was about women, it still would have felt like a lecture.  No worries, the Clinton's campaign will try.  As I wrote:

Then, Obama's speech did a beautiful thing.  It proved that his is about unity.  It proved that he understood the way America works.  In fact, the next part I'm going to quote, I guarantee will be stolen and woven into Clinton's upcoming speeches:

But for all those who scratched and clawed their way to get a piece of the American Dream, there were many who didn't make it - those who were ultimately defeated, in one way or another, by discrimination. That legacy of defeat was passed on to future generations - those young men and increasingly young women who we see standing on street corners or languishing in our prisons, without hope or prospects for the future. Even for those blacks who did make it, questions of race, and racism, continue to define their worldview in fundamental ways. For the men and women of Reverend Wright's generation, the memories of humiliation and doubt and fear have not gone away; nor has the anger and the bitterness of those years. That anger may not get expressed in public, in front of white co-workers or white friends. But it does find voice in the barbershop or around the kitchen table. At times, that anger is exploited by politicians, to gin up votes along racial lines, or to make up for a politician's own failings.

And occasionally it finds voice in the church on Sunday morning, in the pulpit and in the pews. The fact that so many people are surprised to hear that anger in some of Reverend Wright's sermons simply reminds us of the old truism that the most segregated hour in American life occurs on Sunday morning. That anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the African-American community from forging the alliances it needs to bring about real change. But the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding that exists between the races.

This was an historical speech.  This was an impressive speech.  This was a presidential speech.

~~~THIS SPACE FOR RENT~~~