Via Baratunde Thurston and Steve Garfield, I have just spent 20 minutes watching a crystal-clear presentation of the case for Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton. The creator is Lawrence Lessig.
The most mind-boggling correction in the video, in my opinion, is the refutation of Hillary’s false statement in a debate that Obama removed from his web site links to his October, 2002, speech against the war a year after he made it. (All that exists in video from this speech is this famous passage.) Lessig shows actual archives from the Internet of links to the speech in the 12 months after he made it. In watching the video of Bill Clinton’s infamous “give me a break, this is the biggest fairy tale I’ve ever seen” rant at Dartmouth, I see that Bill’s version of the charge has Obama removing the speech in 2004. Whatever. Lessig’s larger point remains–that the Clintons have used Rovean Swiftboat tactics in an attempt to undermine Obama’s single greatest claim to moral courage and prophetic judgment. The fact is that Obama spoke out against the war in the middle of his campaign for the U.S. Senate, at a time when the mood of the media and the nation made this a very unpopular position to take.
Lessig’s video essay is beautifully crafted, with the best PowerPoint-style moves I’ve seen in a long time. Please take the time to watch it, and then forward this link to anyone you think might need to see it.
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