Shamon!

In case you were flipping back and forth between college football games and missed the most inspiring political moment in the history of our generation, here’s the video for last night’s acceptance speech by Barack Obama, in its entirety and with some behind-the-scenes moments at the beginning.

I could paste just about any excerpt from the speech into this post and it would be a winner, but this stood out as one of my favorite moments…

I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that’s to be expected. Because if you don’t have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare the voters. If you don’t have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from.

You make a big election about small things.

And you know what – it’s worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn’t work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it’s best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.

I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don’t fit the typical pedigree, and I haven’t spent my career in the halls of Washington.

But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the nay-sayers don’t understand is that this election has never been about me. It’s been about you.

Spread the word, email it to your friends and family, ignore the haters, bring on the debates, enough with the stupid attacks. I’m starting with the man in the mirror, I’m asking him to change his ways, and no message could’ve been any clearer; If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make that CHANGE.

Happy birthday MJ.