This has been an historic week, and, of course, the history has not been made quite yet. A guy who likes to pontificate in this forum and wants to be part of this history, but needs also to do what he is paid to do, cannot come up with original gens every single day.

So we have turned to the "bloggers" of the past: all of them Presidents of the United States and all of them with the vision to see a nation which, in the words of one of them, sees one the of our obligations the need to

widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.

The man who said that was Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he was speaking on the eve of a great war for our civilization.

When that war ended, a new President filled out the plan and told us what to do.

The forces who want to make money off our inevitable illness were able to stop him, though, and even a young, vibrant and eloquent President, could only come close in trying to get Congress to enact a version of what President Truman had proposed, but limited only to the older among us.

Sadly, it took his death, which, coupled with the perseverance of his successor, got us that far, with an additional program aimed at the poorest in out country.

And here we are, almost 35 years later, on the precipice and as close to taking that next big step. It is not the step outlined for us by President Truman, and championed by another Kennedy, perhaps the greatest Senator in our nation's history. But it is a step forward.

You don't need this blog to find his words, but the ones which make the case are excerpted below as those of our final guest blogger, the current President of the United States, Barack Obama. They were delivered today:

And in just a few days, a century-long struggle will culminate in a historic vote. ... We've had historic votes before. We had a historic vote to put Social Security in place to make sure that our elderly did not live out their golden years in poverty. We had a historic vote in civil rights to make sure that everybody was equal under the law. (Applause.) As messy as this process is, as frustrating as this process is, as ugly as this process can be, when we have faced such decisions in our past, this nation, time and time again, has chosen to extend its promise to more of its people. ...

You know, the naysayers said that Social Security would lead to socialism. ... But the men and women of Congress stood fast and created that program that lifted millions out of poverty. ...

There were cynics that warned that Medicare would lead to a government takeover of our entire health care system, and that it didn't have much support in the polls. But Democrats and Republicans refused to back down, and they made sure that our seniors had the health care that they needed and could have some basic peace of mind. ...

So previous generations, those who came before us, made the decision that our seniors and our poor, through Medicaid, should not be forced to go without health care just because they couldn't afford it. Today it falls to this generation to decide whether we will make that same promise to hardworking middle-class families and small businesses all across America, and to young Americans like yourselves who are just starting out. ....

I know this has been a difficult journey. I know this will be a tough vote. I know that everybody is counting votes right now in Washington. But I also remember a quote I saw on a plaque in the White House the other day. It's hanging in the same room where I demanded answers from insurance executives and just received a bunch of excuses. And it was a quote from Teddy Roosevelt, the person who first called for health care reform -- that Republican -- all those years ago. And it said, "Aggressively fighting for the right is the noblest sport the world affords."

Now, I don't know how passing health care will play politically -- but I know it's right. ... Teddy Roosevelt knew it was right. Harry Truman knew that it was right. Ted Kennedy knew it was right. (Applause.) And if you believe that it's right, then you've got to help us finish this fight. You've got to stand with me just like you did three years ago and make some phone calls and knock on some doors, talk to your parents, talk to your friends. Do not quit, do not give up, we keep on going. ... We are going to get this done. We are going to make history. We are going to fix health care in America with your help. ...

God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.

This identical post but with the video is here.

The full text is here.