If you haven’t already, I recommend you watch Barack Obama’s speech in response to the controversy surrounding Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s racially charged remarks:

Obama found himself embroiled in a controversy over the past week due to his pastor’s comments which were seen by many as potentially fatal for his campaign. But Obama startled me in his audacity to take this dire situation head on and force Americans to take a hard and honest look at themselves and their attitudes towards race. The grace with which he folded this ugly and overplayed controversy into the core message of his campaign demonstrates not only the depth at which this message of unity resides within him as his value system but the mastery he possesses over communicating those values to people of all backgrounds. That skill will be vital to getting anything done in a climate dominated by bitter divisions which have festered into apathy. I think this speech will be remembered for a time to come as a turning point not only for Obama’s campaign, but the direction of politics and society in this country.

//Soap box returned back under the sink