Obama at Fort Hood

President Obama delivered a powerful speech earlier today at a memorial for the victims of the Fort Hood shootings. At least a few pundits have classified it as his best speech ever. I’m not sure about that, and I think focusing on that distracts from why Obama was speaking in the first place, which was to honor the victims. It’s certainly powerful and worth a watch, though. There are a couple of things in particular that really stuck with me toward the end of the speech:

We are a nation of laws whose commitment to justice is so enduring that we would treat a gunman and give him due process, just as surely as we will see that he pays for his crimes.

We are a nation that is dedicated to the proposition that all men and women are created equal. We live that truth within our military, and see it in the varied backgrounds of those we lay to rest today. We defend that truth at home and abroad, and we know that Americans will always be found on the side of liberty and equality. That is who we are as a people.

…history is filled with heroes. You may remember the stories of a grandfather who marched across Europe; an uncle who fought in Vietnam; a sister who served in the Gulf. But as we honor the many generations who have served, I think all of us - every single American - must acknowledge that this generation has more than proved itself the equal of those who have come before.

We need not look to the past for greatness, because it is before our very eyes.

Watch the video here, since I can’t seem to embed it in this blog.