“When facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom”

The guy can give one hell of a speech and he delivered a genuine stemwinder tonight. No doubt about it.

This passage in particular really resonated with me…

And [our predecessors] knew that when any government measure, no matter how carefully crafted or beneficial, is subject to scorn; when any efforts to help people in need are attacked as un-American; when facts and reason are thrown overboard and only timidity passes for wisdom, and we can no longer even engage in a civil conversation with each other over the things that truly matter – that at that point we don’t merely lose our capacity to solve big challenges. We lose something essential about ourselves.

That, my friends, is a President.

So yes…this was a big, big, big speech. Obama put it all on the line and presented health care reform in such a way that he had Republican standing up and applauding 75% of the time. Truly impressive.

And yes, there will still be a lot of yelling.

And yes, the health care fight will still be tough.

But what Obama showed the country tonight very clearly is that he’s not a partisan warrior, nor a crypto-socialist. He is a serious, thoughtful man who genuinely believes that bipartisanship is achievable. That’s why I voted for him and he didn’t disappoint tonight.

Here’s the question: What did you think?

(Photo: Reuters via Daylife)