Yes WE Can

In response to President Obama's speech in Selma, Andrew Sprung tweeted this yesterday:

When Obama breaks through, it seems people hear things he's never stopped saying for the first time.http://t.co/phsRv9Zst2
— Andrew Sprung (@xpostfactoid1) March 8, 2015

I couldn't agree more. And you should go read his own reaction to the speech at the link he included.

I've already mentioned how I was reminded of the President's 2013 Inaugural Address and his speech at the 2012 Democratic Convention. But as I was listening on Saturday, I also heard echoes of this one from way back in January 2008.

All of the candidates in this race have good ideas and all are patriots who serve this country honorably.

But the reason our campaign has always been different, the reason we began this improbable journey almost a year ago is because it's not just about what I will do as president. It is also about what you, the people who love this country, the citizens of the United States of America, can do to change it.

That's what this election is all about.

That's why tonight belongs to you. It belongs to the organizers, and the volunteers, and the staff who believed in this journey and rallied so many others to join the cause.

We know the battle ahead will be long. But always remember that, no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. And they will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come.

We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.

For when we have faced down impossible odds, when we've been told we're not ready or that we shouldn't try or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can. Yes, we can. Yes, we can.

It was a creed written into the founding documents that declared the destiny of a nation: Yes, we can.

It was whispered by slaves and abolitionists as they blazed a trail towards freedom through the darkest of nights: Yes, we can.

It was sung by immigrants as they struck out from distant shores and pioneers who pushed westward against an unforgiving wilderness: Yes, we can.

It was the call of workers who organized, women who reached for the ballot, a president who chose the moon as our new frontier, and a king who took us to the mountaintop and pointed the way to the promised land: Yes, we can, to justice and equality.

Yes, we can, to opportunity and prosperity. Yes, we can heal this nation. Yes, we can repair this world. Yes, we can.

The President's speech in Selma was truly one for the ages. He seized the moment and offered the invitation for all of us to join in the "we" that loves this country enough to continue its struggle towards a "more perfect union."

But let's be honest. That's what his presidency has been all about since day one.