Obama Delivers Again!

I keep going back to this whenever Barack Obama makes a major speech.
It's like watching Eli Manning running the two-minute drill in leading the New York Giants to a Super Bowl upset a few years back.
It's also like watching Michael Jordan making the game-winning shot that gave the Chicago Bulls one of many NBA titles he won with that team.
He did it again Wednesday, and he did it convincingly Wednesday night. Not only did he state clearly and with great conviction the case for meaningful healthcare reform, he also helped expose how boorish and childish the opposition to his plan has become.
It wasn't just the rude scream of Rep. Wilson, who screamed "liar" at Obama before having to apologize for it hours later. It was also the indifference and disrespect displayed by one of the House's Republican leaders, Rep. Eric Cantor, as he Twittered away from his seat instead of directing his undivided attention to the President.
If these were those representing me in Congress, I'd be a most ashamed man, but as despicable as the behavior of these Republicans were, it must not distract from the fact that their antics didn't prevent Obama from articulating the strongest case yet for real healthcare reform.
He was unequivocal when he said "it will be illegal for insurance companies to deny coverage because of preexisting conditions" and he was also moving when he read an extensive letter written by ultimate healthcare reform champion Sen. Edward M. Kennedy just a few short months before he died.
He was also forceful in defining what his public option was and telling us (contrary to the lies of opponents) that it was going to be a non-profit entity that would be supported by the premiums paid by the insured and not by taxpayers.
And boy, did he throw the book at those spreading lies about his proposals last month, calling one set of rumors (about so-called death panels) a lie and the claim that his plan would give health care to illegal aliens false (the latter drawing the yell of "liar" from Rep. Wilson of South Carolina).
The speech reminded me of the time when then-candidate Obama had to deliver a speech of his life to save his candidacy in the heat of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright controversy, and Obama wound up turning lemons into lemonade in a way that not only saved his candidacy, but helped catapaulted him to the presidency with a historic speech on race relations in Philadelphia.
Wednesday, in a presidency-defining moment, Obama came through again, throwing down the gauntlet at his critics while defining what his healthcare proposal really was.
That is a president in action.