Has Obama's voice become constricted?

[Sanity Claws]

I listened to NPR's coverage of the speech Obama made last night. It played excerpts from that speech, as well as a speech he made as a senator in 2007. I thought there was a difference in his voice. It now sounds constricted in comparison.

Did anyone else pick this up?

I wonder whether his throat chakra has become constricted. As President, he is privy to many ugly things that he can't speak about. I wouldn't be surprised if his throat chakra is not working as well as it used to.

[FirstLight]

1. I noticed that too...

I wonder if he was just practising UBER-restraint, and it came through in his voice. he seemed very reticent in manner too...hope he is okay and not ill, or having to take meds or drink heavily to deal with the hell on earth we are facing as a nation...
(I swear, that's what I thought when I saw him, that he was either 'on something' or had been "told" to say certain things and he was not happy being held for ransom...)

maybe later i'll see if I can do a reading on this...

[JanusAscending]

3. I noticed that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT!

I could almost sense his inner feelings as being....what can I say...tingling...tender nerve ending type of pain, both in spirit and mind...yet the body very tense and robotic!! I especially watched his hands. They always give his emotions away to me. They were kept folded clasped together almost as if on purpose, to restrain his emotions. Only a few times toward the end of his speech did he move his thumbs in a rhythmic manner. I've noticed in the past he's used his hands to "keep cadence" with his pattern of speech, and to stress certain points. I found it very odd last night, that for the first time, he didn't feel comfortable in his own skin!!! I was slightly alarmed..still am.?????

[crikkett]

12. maybe it was the first time he had to lie on TV?

What he was saying did after all sound a lot like "Mission Accomplished"

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. It doesn't hurt at all, to send lots of prayers to the Obamas.

All the time. It is a critical decade, after all.

[JanusAscending]

4. You are right!

I love and trust this man, and don't envy the hell it must be now to be him! Sometimes I forget to pray for him 'cause I'm so busy trying to restrain myself from doing battle daily with his detracters here on DU. I just stick my head in the sand to protect my feelings, and blood pressure! MUST REMEMBER to pray for him and his loved ones. Thanks for the reminder.

[rucognizant]

5. I think you've got it!

You have picked out the problem.
I have had difficulties lately, There are things I want to say in a personal situation, and can't. And my problems are miniscule compared to his. But I find I can't sing lately. My voice is almost not there. Several months ago I was singing like an angel!

[southerncrone]

6. The passion was not there.

As others here have noted it seems he was hog-tied, or only "allowed" to discuss certain topics in very narrow perimeters. I got a sense that he may be being "black-mailed" by certain factions....thus he's frustrated. Instead of showing his frustration, he'd shoved it inside.
This should be an interesting year!

[MorningGlow]

7. Interesting

Now I'm going to have to go watch it online (I missed it live). I wouldn't be surprised if he were, SC. I often think of that when my mom speaks--she keeps lots of things inside, never voicing her opinions, especially toward people who, for lack of a better term, bug the shit out of her, and when she's facing these people, suddenly her voice goes all raspy and cuts out. I think there's definitely a connection with being stifled (or self-stifling) and the throat chakra/throat tightening up due to stress.

Poor man. :(

[Metta]

8. He's becoming more guarded since he's chosen to be more filtered.

He's getting and following really bad advice and is ignoring the signs, for example, how it's affecting him. He's more guarded, defensive and unsure of himself.

That's what you get when you play defense all the time and for ignoring that his decision hurt people no matter how much they benefit corporations. He needs to kick out most of his advisers whose advice weighs him down but I'm not holding my breath.

[Cleita]

9. I keep getting the feeling that he is getting more

distant, like he's fading. Something is up at his very soul level. I believe you are right. I hope he's realizing that he may be not getting the best of advice. Maybe he has to make a terrible decision to sack his present staff and get a more progressive one in there. That could weigh heavily on even a President, who can't afford to make life and death decisions that are mistakes. Of course, we know those things never bothered Bush/Cheney.

[MorningGlow]

10. Isolation

I agree with you and Metta, Cleita. He's being forced to lose touch, not necessarily through any sinister means, just because of the nature of the job. Plus, as you and Metta said, at this point he's getting advice from his advisors--perhaps several, perhaps conflicting advice--and can't get out into the world as much as he used to, as much as he'd like, to get the real story. Viewpoints become skewed.

As SC said, he has a LOT more to deal with than we know, so much he can't talk about, including threats of personal harm if he doesn't toe the line, causing him even more stress. An awful situation. I always hate to look at a good soul after they've been president a while--the sheer stress of the job ages them so dramatically it's frightening.

But no, none of this applies to Bush/Cheney, as Bush had no conscience and likely slept like a baby because of it, and nobody controlled Darth Cheney--he was the one doing the controlling. x(

[BlueIris]

11. Re: fading.

I first started noticing this in September '07. I felt such a significant drop off in the energetic "momentum" of the campaign around that time. So much so that as some of you know, I predicted that he would not be the nominee. I actually felt he might choose to sit down even before Iowa, because the energy had faded so much. I felt a similar crash between Iowa and the time he declared victory in June of '08. By July, I could barely pick up any energy at all.

I was attributing this to what I felt must be some kind of burn out or exhaustion within the campaign itself (staff overextended, etc.) It didn't occur to me until recently that the fading sensation could be related to Obama himself. I realize this is not what most of you want to read, and I mean no disrespect to anyone personally, but I feel there's been a real decline there and I have been worried about his health because of it. I can't make any recommendations about what kind of light to send, but I share everyone's concern.

[crikkett]

13. I've been hearing a lot about seasonal depression

Maybe it's the time of year in addition to all of the stresses of his job?

Maybe he's taking stimulants or quitting cigarettes.

[Sanity Claws]

14. Seasonal depression usually occurs in the winter

when there isn't much light.

[MorningGlow]

15. I'm pretty sure it's stress/frustration

I read somewhere that no matter how much experience they might have with our country's government, when a candidate wins the presidency and finds out what they're up against, they're absolutely blindsided. I've always said that Obama is a grownup and always behaves like one, and he expected that his fellow politicians in Washington would do the same. When he found out the truth, about how childish and selfish they could be, he was shocked. And the longer the fight goes on, and the more he's stonewalled at every turn, the wearier he is. At least, that's what I'm picking up.

I feel so bad for him. Truly, he has found that the inmates are running the asylum, and no matter how intelligent, altruistic, and noble he might be, that's gotta wear him down. :(

[Kookaburra]

16. We're in synch on this on MG

I was getting that he wanted so badly for everyone to play nice, and of course they never would, so now he has to make the decision keep trying to play referee for what is essentially a bunch of 3-yr-olds or be the grown up and tell them what will be done. I feel like he's at the point now where his attitude is "fine. you don't want to play nice, then you won't get to be in the game at all."