Thursday, June 4, 2009

I don't know about you, but I like to try to go to original sources before listening to the pundits, so I searched for a transcript of Obama's speech (no way was I getting up at 0300 to hear it live). I found a transcript on a Muslim blog, here. I didn't agree with everything, but it was a pretty good speech; my biggest concern was the part about Israel and the Palestinians, but that has been/is/will be such quagmire that I don't think anyone can really say anything sensible about it.  

He mentions 9/11 at the beginning, and I don't think he pulled his punches in presenting the effect of that event on this country. I didn't see a hint of apology anywhere, and he never mentioned Bush or even the previous administration. The closest he came was a very oblique reference to the mistakes in Iraq, but that was adjacent to a statement that the Iraqis are better off without Saddam Hussein, which surprised me. He defended democracy.  

All in all, it was a very pretty speech. I just wish I were convinced that he will be as strong an advocate for some of the principles as he sounded. And I was put off by the kumbaya-one world bits, but that probably plays well elsewhere and I would have been shocked if that weren't a strong theme.

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