A Tale of Two Speeches (Mary Lyon)

[Tace]

Feels like it’s still the best of times and the worst of times

Mary Lyon, On The Left -- World News Trust

Feb. 25, 2009 -- Feels like it’s still the best of times and the worst of times. If the night of President Obama’s first major speech to a joint session of Congress proved anything, it confirmed that America chose the better of two directions last November. Nothing could underscore that more glaringly than the comparison of Obama’s remarks to those that followed, by Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, so reminiscent of a miserable period that thankfully just ended.

Speeches are symbolic. The words pack a punch, certainly, but the ideas behind them and the style in which they’re delivered count hugely as well. The people presenting them make a difference, too. You need all three elements working in harmony -- stirring language articulating transcendent ideas, offered by speakers who inspire confidence and optimism. So the night of this year’s twist on a State of the Union speech was a stark study in contrasts.

At first, all I could think of once President Obama concluded his remarks was that his first speech to Congress was directed at the loyal opposition: “Beat THAT.” Obama’s was a “ballpark” speech. As in “hit one out of the…” It was straightforward, uplifting, and offered a sense of relief -- that a cooler head and steadier hands are at the helm. My fellow Americans, we chose well -- for a change.

And what a change indeed. We’re in the worst fix ever, at least as far as I can think back, as a woman of five decades. The previous most-memorable lines from such a prominent public address involved a fallacious laundry list of so-called WMDs that were surely being amassed at that very moment to obliterate us, and how we should all be sorely afraid -- and then, vindictive as hell. Obama said it during the campaign trail and he might as well have repeated it on this occasion -- “not this time.”

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http://www.worldnewstrust.com/wnt-reports/commentary/a-tale-of-two-speeches-mary-lyon.html

[keith the dem]

1. Nice read, thanks for the link.