UPDATE: The New York Times editorial –

“Inaugural addresses by Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt come to mind, as does John F. Kennedy’s 1960 speech on religion, with its enduring vision of the separation between church and state. Senator Barack Obama, who has not faced such tests of character this year, faced one on Tuesday. It is hard to imagine how he could have handled it better”

TPM people, who imho, lean to Hillary provides transcript with their take:

Full Text Of Obama’s Big Race Speech: A Big Break With Political Precedent

TPM Reading it, you can’t escape the fact that in various ways it represents a massive break with conventional political precedent.

In the speech Obama goes big big big, quite consciously presenting his personal story — and candidacy — as both symbol and realization of American history…

  “I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton’s Army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I’ve gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world’s poorest nations. I am married to a black American who carries within her the blood of slaves and slaveowners — an inheritance we pass on to our two precious daughters. I have brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, uncles and cousins, of every race and every hue, scattered across three continents, and for as long as I live, I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible.

    It’s a story that hasn’t made me the most conventional candidate. But it is a story that has seared into my genetic makeup the idea that this nation is more than the sum of its parts – that out of many, we are truly one.”

And of course he addresses the Wright controversy, conceding that he sat silent in the church while Wright said “controversial” things…  

 “I have already condemned, in unequivocal terms, the statements of Reverend Wright that have caused such controversy. For some, nagging questions remain. Did I know him to be an occasionally fierce critic of American domestic and foreign policy? Of course. Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely – just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests, or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”

TPM:…but he defends Wright as much more than the whackjob that’s been burning up You Tube of late, a move that in itself could be seen as a break with political precedent, in that he’s asking voters to look beyond the cartoon of controversy to see a more complex picture…

    “The man I met more than twenty years ago is a man who helped introduce me to my Christian faith, a man who spoke to me about our obligations to love one another; to care for the sick and lift up the poor. He is a man who served his country as a U.S. Marine; who has studied and lectured at some of the finest universities and seminaries in the country, and who for over thirty years led a church that serves the community by doing God’s work here on Earth — by housing the homeless, ministering to the needy, providing day care services and scholarships and prison ministries, and reaching out to those suffering from HIV/AIDS…

    As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me…I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community. “

TPM…and says that rather than approach the Wright controversy in a conventional way, he wants to use it as an occasion to initiate a broader discussion of race in America…

  ” But race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America – to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

    The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we’ve never really worked through – a part of our union that we have yet to perfect. And if we walk away now, if we simply retreat into our respective corners, we will never be able to come together and solve challenges like health care, or education, or the need to find good jobs for every American.”

TPM..and he unapologetically says that Wright’s rhetoric — and its appeal — is rooted in the anger of victims of discrimination, though he’s also careful to note that black anger “often proved counterproductive” and that white resentments are sometimes “grounded in legitimate concerns”…

go read the rest

Nothing to add…It’s a speech he wrote by himself. Obama will be the next President of The United States of America.

Snip and save. Pass on to your children and great grand children.