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July 27, 2008

An Interesting Take On That Obama Speech In Berlin

Topics: Political News and commentaries

.... it was all about "sweet nothings," as are most of his speeches. Filled with vacuousness, fluff, and his usual attempt to instill urgency (to his election) with the announcement(s) that "this is the moment."

As Andrew Ferguson notes in his piece, anyone who wants to understand Barack Obama would do well to stay away from the radio and the TV, after all, Obama is a (contrived and staged) theatrical presence. To an unnerving degree his appeal relies on sight and sound rather than sense, so it's better to stick to the printed word: "On paper (or the computer screen) his words can be thought about and chewed over. You can understand him at your own pace, undistracted by that rich baritone, the regal bearing, the excellent drape of his Burberry suits."

And even then, as Ferguson also points out, the printed word has its problems too: "You really need to be on your toes if you're going to get anything out of a newspaper's election coverage. You've got to tune your ear to euphemism and translate as you go." When it comes to deciphering the rhetoric and getting through the staged persona and the flowery centrist-speak down to the Marxist empty suit with a hidden agenda, one has to look beyond the immediately obvious and avoid the Chris Mathews syndrome of that feeling down one's leg.

Posted by Abdul at July 27, 2008 12:41 PM

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• An Interesting Take On That Obama Speech In Berlin - Jul 27, 2008