I am here because of Ashley

Barack Obama today asked us to care for one another in a political speech that illuminated race in this country as none other in decades. Please, whoever you support for President, if you live in the US give this speech 40 minutes of your time.

You can find the text here.

Obama accepts the contradictions of life, he owns them. He does not back away from his family (including Rev. Wright) just because they have an ugly aspect. Yet he call on himself and all of us to do better. I find myself asking: Can I accept this call?

I have no idea if we can really elect this man to the Presidency. But I am so thankful we have elevated him enough to make his voice heard even now. And if we can elect him, I hope it means that we can learn to elect, with open eyes, other imperfect souls trying to make the world a better place without forcing them to masquerade as infallible. For this is leadership: not taking us where we say we want to go, but showing us where we really need to go.

Sigh. Of course, looking at comments from our best of friends, it is clear that we can be terribly blind to good intentions.