much as one (or i) might have reservations about obama, it's refreshing, though, to have someone in the office capable of actual thought. so in the nobel speech, he goes right after peirce/james/dewey fallibilism and convergence toward consensus as truth, connecting his own politics to classical american philosophy. without hitting you over the head with abstractions.

We are fallible. We make mistakes, and fall victim to the temptations of pride, and power, and sometimes evil. Even those of us with the best intentions will at times fail to right the wrongs before us. But we do not have to think that human nature is perfect for us to still believe that the human condition can be perfected. We do not have to live in an idealized world to still reach for those ideals that will make it a better place.