Watch this first.
Some speeches are experiences of the moment that look dated the minute they are viewed again. Senator Obama gave a great speech to close the Democrat Convention, but the clarity blurred the minute one looked again. The set was dated Yesterday 2008 the moment it was stored.
Some speeches require knowing the background and context of the moment to gain the full flavor of the masterful oratory. Governor Palin standing unbowed at the crossroads of her career gave such a speech. The rhetoric was excellent, but you had to know what wicked minded men at places like the Atlantic Monthly had tried to do to her to capture the full measure of her greatness.
Some speeches are better than they seem at the instant, because they contain one glimpse of greatness that sticks in your mind forever. When viewed again, it is still great and becomes even greater.
Sarah Palin is no saint and John McCain is no messiah. They both have flaws, John McCain especially. This campaign has not been, on either side, clean or above board. It is hard at times to know what is true about anyone running.
One thing is surely true . . . everyone agrees with it who is sane: John McCain is a hero. Heroes do not always make great Presidents, as U.S. Grant proves, but most men don’t make great Presidents. It can be agonizing to decide how to vote.
Who to believe?
What can we trust?
One thing we know is this: whatever mistakes he makes John McCain will serve this nation with all his heart. Pain and personal loss will not stop him. That is a big thing to know.
Palin and McCain surely are authentic. They are themselves, but we know less of Palin. We know all we can of John McCain, sins and all, but part of McCain’s self is a dark night of the soul and heroism and service at any cost out of it.
We know that. He will serve America regardless of party or self.
If John McCain wins, and that is still a long shot, the moment he secured a chance at victory will be at the end of his workmanlike speech when he became the Grand Old Man of the Grand Old Party and found his broken arms raised for a moment like Moses on the mountaintop by his unity with the people watching.