Speaking Of Everything…

Obama and the Birth of the Cool.

Obama held the hearts, minds and souls of hundreds of thousands in the palm of his hand during his speech this afternoon. While most were waiting for soaring rhetoric, Obama spoke of humility and strength.  He spoke of inclusion and spirit. He “brought it” without reaching for eloquence, yet uttered phrases that will one day be chiseled in granite and preserved in bronze.

“For us, they toiled in sweatshops and settled the West; endured the lash of the whip and plowed the hard earth. For us, they fought and died, in places like Concord and Gettysburg; Normandy and Khe Sahn.”

“We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals…”

“This is the meaning of our liberty and our creed — why men and women and children of every race and every faith can join in celebration across this magnificent mall, and why a man whose father less than sixty years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.”

Yet, with hundreds of thousands (probably lots more!) crowding the mall in witness, he didn’t go for the rally atmosphere. There were no chanting lines, no call and response, no brags, just facts. He could have turned this occasion into a mass spectacle for the gathered crowd was ready. Conservatives will long fulminate about the disrespect showed the soon to be former President and Vice-President (Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye!) but Obama gave them nothing to throw back at him in visual terms.

Without ruffles and flourishes, he just made history.