A key excerpt from the speech tonight, via the White House Press Office:
But while our economy may be weakened and our confidence shaken; though we are living through difficult and uncertain times, tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.Looks like the President is going to inspire the nation tonight. All of what he says in those two paragraphs is true. The country will put together -- even without the Republicans who would rather play political games than move the country forward. Those are, of course, the same Republicans who linked arms with George Bush to get us into this mess. But, Obama is clearly determined to get us out of this crisis. And, as polls show from NY Times/CBS and Washington Post/ABC, he has the American people on his side.
The weight of this crisis will not determine the destiny of this nation. The answers to our problems don’t lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and universities; in our fields and our factories; in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth. Those qualities that have made America the greatest force of progress and prosperity in human history we still possess in ample measure. What is required now is for this country to pull together, confront boldly the challenges we face, and take responsibility for our future once more.
In the meantime, civil war is breaking out in the GOP between the few pragmatic Republicans who understand the gravity of the situation and the extremist wing of the party, led by Rush Limbaugh. Bring popcorn because that battle is going to be fun to watch.
