clifp
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2006
- Messages
- 7,733
I am one of those nerdy kids who enjoyed debate club. In fact, it helped out in real life because I spent a large portion of my career giving speeches and presentation to a wide variety of groups, and I got pretty good at public speaking. People often would come up to me and tell me "that was a good talk" and more important’ often they'd even want to buy what I was selling!
So I am more than a little awed at Barack Obama's oratorical skills. I have long said that comparisons to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan didn't to justice to the guy. I think he and Tony Blair are the best English-speaking orators today. In fact, part of me hopes Obama becomes president just because I'd enjoy hearing his speeches. (Of course I disagree with his policies pretty strongly)
The problem that I've had Barack's speeches is they all too often sound great when he delivers them, but when you actually read them, there is lovely rhetoric but little substance. Not so the Race speech, lots of thought provoking content, packaged beautifully, and delivered with great skill. So add me to the long list of conservatives who thought Barack delivered a great and important speech.
I'd even say it was an effective speech. I have a better understanding of why Rev. Wright might deliver these anti-American hateful sermons, I even understand why Senator Obama wouldn't abandon Rev. Wright and the Trinity church.
But what really concerns me is why Senator Obama couldn't transform Rev. Wright from an angry black minister who inflames the race problem in the US to a positive influence. If it was just the Reverend maybe I could understand, but his white grandmother was in his own words a bigot. Perhaps most importantly is wife has a strong anti American sentiment. I have never heard Michele Obama say anything along the lines of "I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story possible", like Barack says, instead she sounds consistently angry at America.
Senator Obama is on a quest to lead this nation, and by extension much of the world. The essence of leadership is to convince other people to stop thinking and acting one way and instead to do what you think is right.
Senator Obama clearly knows that Reverend Wright, his grandmother, and his wife are wrong. So why hasn’t he been able change the actions of those people closest to him? Twenty to 25 years ago I’d have described my parents as being mildly bigoted, pretty typical for their generation of white Americans. Now my dad gradually transformed himself, but my mom need a bit of prodding from my sister and myself to first stop making racially insensitive comments and then to stop thinking them. I didn’t like cringing when my mom made offensive comments so I gently chided her, eventually it worked. If I can help make this change with a fraction of Obama’s rhetorical skills and charisma, why couldn’t Senator Obama?
Hillary Clinton has said that she is a fighter, and Barack described her as tenacious. I doubt there is a Republican who’d disagree. The only disagreement between Hillary supporters and Hillary basher; is she a fighter for a particular cause or group, or solely for herself? Likewise Senator McCain is a tenacious fighter, by his own admission he relishes a good argument. I can understand why this desire for confrontation scares some people, (I was recently asked will President McCain go to war with Iran?). On the other hand you want to see the leadership results of a scrappy fighter, campaign finance reform went from a half dozen votes out of 100 to the law of the land. Type A personalities can be pain in the butt to be around, but I wonder if they aren’t a requirement to be President. Barack is clearly a man of blessed with a first class mind, loads of charisma, a good temperament, and extraordinary oratorical skills.
The question I pose for his supporters is if can’t change the actions and opinions of those closest to him, how could he be effective with congress and other countries leaders?
So I am more than a little awed at Barack Obama's oratorical skills. I have long said that comparisons to Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan didn't to justice to the guy. I think he and Tony Blair are the best English-speaking orators today. In fact, part of me hopes Obama becomes president just because I'd enjoy hearing his speeches. (Of course I disagree with his policies pretty strongly)
The problem that I've had Barack's speeches is they all too often sound great when he delivers them, but when you actually read them, there is lovely rhetoric but little substance. Not so the Race speech, lots of thought provoking content, packaged beautifully, and delivered with great skill. So add me to the long list of conservatives who thought Barack delivered a great and important speech.
I'd even say it was an effective speech. I have a better understanding of why Rev. Wright might deliver these anti-American hateful sermons, I even understand why Senator Obama wouldn't abandon Rev. Wright and the Trinity church.
But what really concerns me is why Senator Obama couldn't transform Rev. Wright from an angry black minister who inflames the race problem in the US to a positive influence. If it was just the Reverend maybe I could understand, but his white grandmother was in his own words a bigot. Perhaps most importantly is wife has a strong anti American sentiment. I have never heard Michele Obama say anything along the lines of "I will never forget that in no other country on earth is my story possible", like Barack says, instead she sounds consistently angry at America.
Senator Obama is on a quest to lead this nation, and by extension much of the world. The essence of leadership is to convince other people to stop thinking and acting one way and instead to do what you think is right.
Senator Obama clearly knows that Reverend Wright, his grandmother, and his wife are wrong. So why hasn’t he been able change the actions of those people closest to him? Twenty to 25 years ago I’d have described my parents as being mildly bigoted, pretty typical for their generation of white Americans. Now my dad gradually transformed himself, but my mom need a bit of prodding from my sister and myself to first stop making racially insensitive comments and then to stop thinking them. I didn’t like cringing when my mom made offensive comments so I gently chided her, eventually it worked. If I can help make this change with a fraction of Obama’s rhetorical skills and charisma, why couldn’t Senator Obama?
Hillary Clinton has said that she is a fighter, and Barack described her as tenacious. I doubt there is a Republican who’d disagree. The only disagreement between Hillary supporters and Hillary basher; is she a fighter for a particular cause or group, or solely for herself? Likewise Senator McCain is a tenacious fighter, by his own admission he relishes a good argument. I can understand why this desire for confrontation scares some people, (I was recently asked will President McCain go to war with Iran?). On the other hand you want to see the leadership results of a scrappy fighter, campaign finance reform went from a half dozen votes out of 100 to the law of the land. Type A personalities can be pain in the butt to be around, but I wonder if they aren’t a requirement to be President. Barack is clearly a man of blessed with a first class mind, loads of charisma, a good temperament, and extraordinary oratorical skills.
The question I pose for his supporters is if can’t change the actions and opinions of those closest to him, how could he be effective with congress and other countries leaders?
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