Comments on: The Power Of Oratory

A Great Speech Requires Eloquence, A Moment Of Consequence, And Ideas Of Importance

[samthetvcat]

"The speaker and the moment and the issue came together," Lucas said. "You had the historical significance of the quest for civil rights, and you had Lyndon Johnson, a Southerner, standing up, speaking in that slow, Texas drawl, appropriating the anthem of the civil rights movement."

"Really, it''s all of us who must overcome the crippling legacy of discrimination," LBJ said. "And we shall overcome"

Well that goes to show you right there that without MLK civil rights legislation never would have stood a chance. Because it doesn''t capture the oppression, the urgency, or the hope. In a democracy a President is nobody without a substantial backing of the people.

Barack''s tapped into that sentiment in all of us who feel frustrated by a corrupt and oppressive government, but he doesn''t seem to have yet managed to really tap into the sentiment of Hillary''s followers on maybe:

1. nostalgia for prosperity of the 90''s
2. pride of a life well lived
3. feeling safer with the known, the powerful, the established; feeling wary of the unknown, the new, change
4. anger/overwhelm from feeling repeatedly used/overlooked/otherwise disrespected

Like I guess those sentiments aren''t liable to inspire movement-type speeches, but maybe there''s room for him to tip the balance in his favor doing what he does best instead of getting bogged down with Hillary''s mud-slinging?

[searingtruth]

I saw a disturbing 49 minute interview where Obama reveals that he''s center-right or right wing, admires Ronald Reagan, and believes that Republicans have been the "party of ideas" for the last 10, 15 years. The entire video was posted at http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080115/VIDEO/80115026, but it looks like Obama had it taken down.

But not to worry, following is one of two stunning excerpts from his comments. I''ll post the other one next.

"I don''t want to present myself as some sort of singular figure. I think part of what''s different are the times. I do think that for example that the 1980 election was different. I think Ronald Reagan changed the trajectory of America in a way that Richard Nixon did not and in a way that Bill Clinton did not. He put us on a fundamentally different path because the country was ready for it. I think they felt like with all the excesses of the 1960s and 1970s and government had grown and grown but there wasn''t much sense of accountability in terms of how it was operating. I think people, he just tapped into what people were already feeling, which was we want clarity we want optimism, we want a return to that sense of dynamism and entrepreneurship that had been missing, alright, I think Kennedy, 20 years earlier, moved the country in a fundamentally different direction."
Barack Obama, 1/16/2008


Yikes!!!. The fundamentally different path of tyranny we walk today is a good thing?
ST

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[david1737]

I''ve heard Huckabee speak and he''s seems to have an innate comedic ability.

[david1737]

Bush''s oral skills have gone from totally embarrassing to barely passable/good (in rare cases.)

Bush actually delivered a reasonably powerful speech at the 2004 repub convention.

Part of his problem is that he''s not good at thinking on is feet (improvising.)

[david1737]

In his first term Reagan was a very good orator. Most of his second term he was not so good.

[l00ker]

Hitler had good oratory. Lets not forget that. Many of the evil dictators had great oratory throughout history. And look what happens. They talk about Reagan over and over again like he was some great president.Are they blind? Are they kidding? There is not one thing I remember good that the wanna be cowboy did. And as far as Obama is concerned, his change in speech depending on the state he''''s in is a great indicator that he''''s not talking from the heart, he just wants to make the score.People are like lost sheep not following the shepherd, but following a hungery wolf disquised as a shepherd.


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Posted by croft777 at 12:05 PM : Jan 20, 2008



Oh get a grip on your locks, this guy''s no Hitler.

[duffyn]

Ahem.. correction.. My first sentence in prior post should have read "I certainly agree with whomever said regan was NOT a great President!"

[missingamerica]

Reagan was a great orator; he managed to talk the vast majority of all Americans into viewing the rape of the middle class and the poor via "trickle down economics" as a necessity.

[croft777]

duffynight
I certainly agree with whomever said regan was a great President.
you mean that Reagan was NOT a good president.I understand you.

[duffyn]

I certainly agree with whomever said regan was a great President. He was lousy. Just seems to get all this good press. He was famous for stepping on poor, disabled, mentally ill. What a man!

[croft777]

Hitler had good oratory. Lets not forget that. Many of the evil dictators had great oratory throughout history. And look what happens. They talk about Reagan over and over again like he was some great president.Are they blind? Are they kidding? There is not one thing I remember good that the wanna be cowboy did. And as far as Obama is concerned, his change in speech depending on the state he''s in is a great indicator that he''s not talking from the heart, he just wants to make the score.People are like lost sheep not following the shepherd, but following a hungery wolf disquised as a shepherd.

[meredithmcd]

This piece was racist,prejudiced,and engineered to promote Sen.Clinton and/or Republican politics. "Funny name," not introducing the Bush speechwriter BEFORE his comments that SenObama is a "preacher."
You should be ashamed. Most people can''t see that the media is trying to engineer the outcome of the election to suit its corporate owners. Shame shame shame. We are a neurosurgeon/rocket scientist couple (for real) and we are incensed by this "story."

[l00ker]

Barack will do himself and the country better by letting these two Clinton sellouts run with Lieberman or someone else. He better stay as far away as possible from her if he wants to keep his bright and illustrious future. Let Lieberman be her running mate.

[element51]

RowdyTexan2...Just a question Rowdy. This is not, I repeat not, an attack. What are you going to do if Obama gets the nomination? Will you vote republican? I intend to vote democrat no matter what. It will be sad if it comes down to the lesser of two evils but it seems to always come down to that.

[jon2012-2009]

Thank you for this commentary on "The Power of Oratory." I am a high school teacher teaching aunit on the "Power of Vocabulary." It is most powerful when I can backup my assertions with the most powerful of validators----the media. This segment will certainly help to make me more believable to my students.
Posted by pameladonehe at 09:46 AM : Jan 20, 2008

Don''t forget to remind your students that this kind of oratory can be as self-serving as a sales pitch. Unless a refund is guaranteed when a product does not live up to satisfaction, buy on the record, not the promise.

[honesttalk]

The power of oratory has a been weapon used throw history by great and not so great people, by leaders bringing people together, peace as well from military, dictators, tyrants and criminals from politicians to business people. That''s why is so important in todays world with new technology not to allow the manipulation of information or views that want to hype as they did years, decades or centuries ago. We should not believe just in a nice piece of oratory alone; that''s why I am so cynical about Obama great press and constant positive coverage of every single word he says; that''s when the technology is used as a weapon to control and manipulate the outcome of elections.
I agreed with one of the notes here about Obama, he speaks well to lift spirits; but he is not unique, alot of pastors and religious leaders or civil leaders are great orators and they use the words that inspire people actions; but doesn''t mean all or any of them are vested with the experience or skills required to be President of a nation.

[rowdytexan2]

Obama is a great orator! He would make a wonderful preacher. Let him go preach, it doesn''t require action, just oratory.

We need someone in the White House that knows how to take action and get things done.

This young man doesn''t have a clue YET.

[bookout2]

Clinton won, so, what do you do stick a picture of
Obama on your web front page. Jeff Greenfield
you are a racist. You are a sore loser. You are
disgusting. Its sad to say we still are not color
blind. At least you''re not.

[bookout2]

Clinton, so, what do you do stick a picture of
Obama on your web front page. Jeff Greenfield you
are a racist. You are disgusting.

[agchow]

This segment was an excellent piece of journalism which I will share with my colleagues and my freshman composition students, who are currently studying all aspects of rhetoric. Thank you.