Here is the acceptance speech I'd like to hear from Obama.

My friends, I have run a campaign based on the need for change and the American people seem eager for that to happen. But I think it's important to clearly state just why that change is so necessary.

First, let's talk about Iraq. The Bush administration and the Republican party have led us into a colossal misadventure based on trumped up evidence and outright deception. In so doing they are responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans and our allies, and hundreds of thousands of the Iraqi people. They are responsible for the destruction of the infrastructure of a sovereign nation and have created and abetted the emergence of Al Qeida in Iraq, a terrorist group which did not exist before. They have engineered the installation of a puppet government which is now attempting to defy its masters by calling on the United States to leave, in the face of which the Republicans are trying to continue their occupation.

In the eyes of the world, and to the growing horror of the majority of Americans, we are seen not as the world's beacon of democracy, but as the world's symbol of brutal imperialism. This has got to change.

Now, let's talk about oil. Almost all of the world's economic ills are tied up in that word. Because we are an oil dependent planet, our environment is on the brink of disaster, the free nations of the world are in thrall to some of the most despicable governments, who wish us nothing but harm, and the multinational corporations who control the oil trade are reaping unconscionable profits at the expense of everyone else.

The Republican's response is to seek more oil drilling in more environmentally sensitive areas, holding out the promise of a solution to high oil prices. This is no solution. If we were to drill every last drop available to us, it would be more than a decade before any of it was available for use, and a matter of another few decades before it was gone. The hard fact is that the planet cannot survive on oil, we must find alternative sources of energy.

But the Republicans cannot and will not seek this, because the oil companies own them. Well, they don't own me, and I can and will direct our efforts to moving away from the domination of oil. This will change.

"It's the economy, stupid," - a campaign slogan that has been used over and over again, and which we have, in fact, ignored for far to long. The current devastation of the housing and banking industries and all the collateral damage from that, is one inevitable result of that failure. Under eight years of Republican administration, and during all the Republican administrations of the modern era, the rich have gotten richer while the middle class and the poor have suffered.

This has got to change. But the Republicans cannot and will not do it because they are the problem. Their natural constituancy is made up of those who view the rest of us as their servants. Luxory properties sell in the multi-millions while the homes of the middle class sink into forclosure. Corporate CEOs earn salaries and bonuses in the multi-millions while the people who work for them find their jobs disappearing. This has got to, and it will change.

Hillary Clinton has made health care a central issue of her concern and I applaud her for it. In all the developed world we are the only nation that does not provide for universal health care for all its citizens. This is a disgrace and this must and will change. But the Republicans cannot and will not do it because they are just as much under the control of the pharmaceutical and health care industries as the oil companies. As a matter of fact, there is hardly a sector of the business community which does not exert its influence over the Republican party, usually against the interests of the American people.

I am not anti-business, but I am opposed to business which places profits over responsibility and which damages our environment, our economy and our lives as a whole. And this, too, we will change.

So, how do we do it? There will be detailed plans made available immediately after this convention, but for the moment, let me outline the broad strokes.

First, let me make something extremely clear to the world of terrorist extremism. The United States and its allies have been extraordinarily conservative in our response to brutal provocation. Despite the targeting of innocent civilians, the revolting excesses of terrorist violence and the utter disregard for life or property or freedom or rights or anything the civilized world deems valuable, we have done everything possible to exert our might selectively, judiciously and against a discernible enemy. I do not mean to minimize our failures in this regard - war is a bloody and messy business and too many non-combatants have been killed or injured or their lives devastated.

While the difference between harm by accident and harm by intent doesn't matter much to the victim, it is still an important distinction. While our enemies behave without regard for morality, we have at least tried to do the opposite.

But this forbearance can not continue indefinitely. We have no quarrel with Islam - there is more freedom to practice that religion in the United states than anywhere in the so-called Islamic world. But, if the moderate population does not take action against the extremist element, the west will be forced to use more severe measures. We will not simply allow ourselves to be eaten away and we will not collaborate in our own destruction.

So, to begin. We will withdraw from Iraq by phasing out our troops as they phase in their own. We hope that they will be successful in establishing a viable government and we will be available for any help they require. But their country is their responsibility and they must step up to it. We will set a series of guidelines for our withdrawal but that process will continue and failure to meet the guidelines will be the responsibility of the Iraqi government and people.

We will embark on a new energy policy grounded in the development of non-petroleum based energy sources. We will, in fact, make use of all exisiting oil leases and insure that the oil companies use their revenues to both extract these resources and fund development of alternatives. In so doing, we will have created a new "green" economy providing new industries and employment.

We have already begun to change the legislative framework that made the current economic crunch possible, but more is needed and will be forthcoming. We will insure that Fanny and Freddie will remain solvent and that the sub-prime fiasco of the last decade is not repeated. We will assist those legitimately in need to convert exhorbitent variable rate mortgages into reasonable fixed rate instruments.

A framework for universal health care already exists, it is called Medicare. We will seek to extend these benefits to all Americans. This will not interfere with the ability to obtain private insurance, but will guarantee that no one is without coverage. In the past, the cost of Medicare to the tax payer has been inflated by massive fraud. Rigorous enforcement of statutes and regulations and severe penalties for violations, will curb these excesses.

These are only the broadest outlines of our policies, the details of which will be published and made readily available. For the moment, we must concentrate on winning the Presidency for the Democratic party and for the American people. The ascendancy of the Republican party has been a disaster. They have led us into an illegitimate war, destroyed our relations with our allies, ruined our reputation in the world, fostered the growth of terrorist activity, devastated our economy, trampled on our environment and conducted a profound attack on the bedrock of our nation identity - our constitution.

All of this must change and, with your help, it will.
- posted by Martin Eagle @ 5:53 AM