Barack Obama: Twice Presidential

Twice in one week, Senator Barack Obama showed why he should be the next President of the United States of America.

First, he faced the issue of racism head on in an eloquent, well thought out speech that was neither accusatory nor cowering. Instead, he courageously laid out the facts as they are in America today whether we like to admit it or not. In his books, he has made the same statements, so this was not just a speech he wrote up to quell the media and Hillary Clinton driven hype about racism in America.

Second, he pointed out the reason America's economy is such a disaster by rightly saying that it was the ill advised "war" in Iraq, that Clinton and McCain supported, that is bleeding our country dry while piling incalculable amounts of debt on future generations. It is a shame that the media did not give this more important issue, which affects all Americans, more coverage. But then, the media had to keep running the sound bites of Senator Obama's pastor so there was no time to report the news. Of course, Clinton and McCain were nearly mute on the subject since, with their votes, they abetted the situation.

Meanwhile John McCain and Dick Cheney visited the scene of this crime. McCain was out running around Iraq "safe" in his helmet and bulletproof vest while surrounded by soldiers. Then there was Dick Cheney clearly showing he could care less about the situation by saying "So?" when confronted with the fact that more than two-thirds of American's think the war is a tragedy and not worth the price we have paid in lives and money.

As these two war supporters were doing their work overseas, back home the Clinton campaign consulted their Newt Gingrich political playbook and tried, unsuccessfully, to say that Senator Obama's speech showed that he was not experienced enough to be the President.

Clearly the actions of all three candidates this past week illustrate who has the courage and judgment needed to be the leader of the free world.

That candidate is Senator Barack Obama.