More on Obama’s Speech

“We did not come to fear the future.  We came to shape it.”

Full disclosure: before I wrote that last post, I hadn’t seen the end of President Obama’s speech.

There has been no better eulogy for Senator Kennedy than Obama’s remarks tonight.

Obama’s closing lines:

“I understand how difficult this health care debate has been. I know that many in this country are deeply skeptical that government is looking out for them. I understand that the politically safe move would be to kick the can further down the road, to defer reform one more year, or one more election, or one more term.

But that is not what this moment calls for.

That’s not what we came here to do. We did not come to fear the future. We came here to shape it. I still believe we can act even when it’s hard.

I still believe that we can act when it’s hard. I still believe we can replace acrimony with civility and gridlock with progress. I still believe we can do great things and that here and now we will meet history’s test, because that’s who we are. That is our calling. That is our character.”