As I listened to Barack ______ Obama’s Berlin speech, I could not escape the thought that it sounded like something I had heard before. This morning, as I was doing the morning ground pound, it dawned on me.

When I was in seventh grade (a few years after Newton figured out the gravity thing), the local Optimist Club ran an oratorical contest (they still do), the theme of which was “Optimism: Ingredient for True Leadership.” Many students wrote speeches on that theme and delivered them before a panel of judges. Those of us who did not choose to enter the competition (I believe I had discovered rock and roll by that time) also got to listen to the speeches.

Thinking back, I have to say that it would have been close, but Barack _____ Obama’s Berlin speech just might have nosed out the speeches of those seventh graders for the win.