Apologies for my salty vernacular, but in the spirit of Rev. Wright, it gets the message across.  However, this is not the umptieth  discussion of whether Wright was right or wrong, whether Obama's oratory was soaring, or of the historic implications of this speech.  Let us turn instead to the subject of the political bullying game, and how Obama slammed back.

Obama stood his ground.  Many shuddered as they witnessed the worst of the worst of attack politics unfold before our collective eyes.  As Anderson Cooper, faithful to the spirit of his prior stunt of replaying the Dean scream, once again, along with Fox News, decided to practice this hitherto foolproof candidate-destroying tactic on Obama, supporters rightfully showed their concern, fence-sitters became skeptical, and detractors  gleefully began their cynical deathwatch, all of them with good reason.  Few candidates in the past have withstood such an onslaught, much less one who preaches hope and standards in our political discourse.

However, hope bitch-slapped Fox News, and mesmerized the rest of the skeptical media.  The huge machinery of destruction attacked; the entire country trembled; Obama did not even blink.  Cool as a cucumber, he gave his opponents a pass on their race-baiting agenda, and instead appealed to what is best in us.  That is strength.  Those are cojones.  That is leadership.

So for all those who have said that Obama could not face the Republican sludge machine, they have good reason to argue so about him or any other camdidate.  However, Obama has proven that his audacity and no-nonsense message has much more of a chance of taking on the Republican 527 attacks than does triangulation or the overhyped kitchen sink.  Obama is a fighter to be feared, for he dares fight in his own terms and not the petty battles of his opponents.  As Hillary has already found out, the Republicans have on their hands a formidable adversary.