History is full of great speeches.  Some of the most influential speeches in my life are:

• Jesus Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.
• Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech:
• Robert F. Kennedy’s “Mindless Menace of Violence” speech after MLK’s assassination:
• J.K. Rowling’s Harvard University Commencement Speech

And now, after watching Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, I am adding it to my short list of life-influencing speeches. If you missed Obama’s speech last night, please take the time to watch it.

Not that reality is all about rhetoric and great speechmaking, but I do believe that the masses need to be inspired to hope for and work towards progress.

While I’m on the topic of Obama, here’s a great NYT article that Lawrence linked me to about Obama’s stance on economics.

In all fairness, as independents, the husband and I will be tuning into the Republican National Convention next week.  This brings a whole new meaning to “tough act to follow.”

EDIT:  I am adding Barack Obama’s Call to Renewal speech about religion and politics and Barack Obama’s Yes We Can speech.