Something worth forty minutes.

I'll be honest.  I've been ignoring the Democratic race.  I try not to read articles about it, because, as the race has worn on, it's felt more and more like the usual problem: people hoping and dreaming that a single person--especially in the Oval Office--will fix our country, and by extension, the world.

There is no single person who can do this.  I feel quite strongly about this.  No single person can fix everything.  You can prohibit the consumption of alcohol, but the will of the people will (and did) prevail.  Obama cannot solve our problems.  Hillary cannot bring back the thousands of dead in Iraq.  Al Gore cannot stop the extinction of the polar bear.  The hubbub over every detail of Clinton and Obama is distracting us from ways we can actually help out.

Volunteer at a community garden, or a daycare for struggling single moms.  Go for a bike ride with a friend, or start a vegetable garden, if that's your cup of tea.  Shop locally.  Give someone bus fare.  Pay your credit card off.  Get excited about the presidential race, but don't forget that the work doesn't stop on November 4, 2008 and it won't stop on January 20, 2009.  The next day, there will still be poverty, struggle and racism in America, no matter who is elected.

I say all of this grand bullcrap to explain why I'm posting Barack Obama's speech, "A More Perfect Union".  My opinion about Obama and the Presidential race isn't important.  It's important to hear this speech, in its entirety.  Not because I want you to vote for him, but because it's a really good and deeply important speech. 

It is a speech with the potential to shape a nation.  I know it's long.  I know it's contrary to our 45-second attention span.  I had to pause it and come back to it.  But please, read it, or listen to it:

Here is the full transcript of the speech, if you're a reading person instead of a listening one.

And finally, let me know what you think.