Oratory

I came in just in time to watch Hillary Clinton give her endorsement to Barack Obama. It was an interesting speech. She never talked about losing, she talked about the disappointment of not getting the nomination. She also didn't talk about Obama's legitimate win, she only mentioned his victory.

I was on Twitter writing about the speech and I have to say I am relieved she finally said the words a lot of us wanted to hear 2 months ago : that is time to come together and support Obama.

I thought it was gracious and I also noticed that she kept on repeating at the end "we need to help elect barack obama our president" , almost as if she repeated it seven times herself she would truly and honestly embrace it.

I was also taken aback by her late realization that she became a woman who ran for president as opposed to being a candidate who happened to be a woman. I've always said that Hillary Clinton never struck me as a feminist, but as one of the millions of middle class white women who benefitted from the equal opportunity policies that came after the Civil Rights and Women's Rights movements.

Yet this campaign seems to have made her a born-again feminist :

WTF!

Now I want to know where McCain stands on the issue of hot water, dehydrated babies and bottle production. STAT!

The University of Alaska Anchoraage Alaska Native Oratory Society Statewide Competition or AkNOS will be held on Saturday April 12th on the UAA campus in the Social Sciences Building (SSB), room 119. Pre-event activities will be held on Friday April 11th.

AkNOS is open to all Native and Non-Native college and High School students who are registered at least part-time. Eligible students can participate in one or more of four speaking categories: Oratory, Declamation, Storytelling, & Native Languages. These four categories award prizes to the top three contestants in each category. This year we're also happy to include for the third year a new category, Traditional Introductions. This category is a People's Choice award category. We've included it to encourage students to learn how to formally introduce themselves in the style of their communities and regions.

To register for the AkNOS Statewide Competition click here and fill out the online form.

This is the concession speech that never was. You can find the full text of the speech after the jump.

We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no
matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can withstand the
power of millions of voices calling for change.

We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will
only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been
asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against
offering the people of this nation false hope.

But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been
anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible
odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't
try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a
simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people.

Yes we can.