Dear news media,

Now that you’ve heard Senator Hillary Clinton’s speech, can you please stop peddling the nonsense about her not being 100% behind Barack Obama for President?

I know how much you like that story. But tonight Hillary blew it clean out of the water.

She enthusiastically endorsed Obama:

Barack Obama began his career fighting for workers displaced by the global economy. He built his campaign on a fundamental belief that change in this country must start from the ground up, not the top down. He knows government must be about “We the people” not “We the favored few.”

And when Barack Obama is in the White House, he’ll revitalize our economy, defend the working people of America, and meet the global challenges of our time. Democrats know how to do this. As I recall, President Clinton and the Democrats did it before. And President Obama and the Democrats will do it again.

She challenged those among her supporters who have been grumbling about voting for John McCain to stand by their principles:

I want you to ask yourselves: Were you in this campaign just for me? Or were you in it for that young Marine and others like him? Were you in it for that mom struggling with cancer while raising her kids? Were you in it for that boy and his mom surviving on the minimum wage? Were you in it for all the people in this country who feel invisible?

She reminded us all of the high price we’ll pay if we forget those principles:

This is a fight for the future. And it’s a fight we must win.

I haven’t spent the past 35 years in the trenches advocating for children, campaigning for universal health care, helping parents balance work and family, and fighting for women’s rights at home and around the world … to see another Republican in the White House squander the promise of our country and the hopes of our people.

And she drew inspiration from history to show us a path to a better America, no matter how long and hard the road between here and there:

This is the story of America. Of women and men who defy the odds and never give up.

How do we give this country back to them?

By following the example of a brave New Yorker, a woman who risked her life to shepherd slaves along the Underground Railroad.

And on that path to freedom, Harriett Tubman had one piece of advice.

If you hear the dogs, keep going.

If you see the torches in the woods, keep going.

If they’re shouting after you, keep going.

Don’t ever stop. Keep going.

If you want a taste of freedom, keep going.

Even in the darkest of moments, ordinary Americans have found the faith to keep going.

I’ve seen it in you. I’ve seen it in our teachers and firefighters, nurses and police officers, small business owners and union workers, the men and women of our military - you always keep going.

We are Americans. We’re not big on quitting.

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

So you see, that tired narrative you’ve been spinning of Hillary sulking in a corner, plotting some grand, operatic revenge against slights both real and imaginary — it’s simply not true. Tonight Hillary proved that. And by doing so, she showed why so many millions rallied to her banner during the primaries — and why she has become one of the great progressive leaders of our time.

Don’t ever stop, Hillary. Keep going. Keep going.

UPDATE (9AM, Aug. 27): Looks like my request for the news media isn’t going to be granted. I tuned into MSNBC’s Morning Joe this morning and discovered all the talking heads yacking about how Hillary had “held back” from a full endorsement of Obama because she hadn’t specifically said that he was experienced enough to be President.

Apparently this bit:

But remember, before we can keep going, we have to get going by electing Barack Obama president.

We don’t have a moment to lose or a vote to spare.

Nothing less than the fate of our nation and the future of our children hang in the balance.

… isn’t emphatic enough (!) for our nation’s proud punditocracy to count it as an unequivocal endorsement.

Sigh.