No Relief in Sight or Sound

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“Headlines after [Obama's] speech focused almost exclusively on four of the President’s words: "We are at war." Given this administration’s efforts to distance itself from war-on-terror rhetoric, these four words became the man-bites-dog story. However, my interest is in the form of speech as well as "grading" it in the context of other speeches given by civilian commanders in times of war. [...] Verbiage is a real problem with President Obama. His entire "Christmas Bomber" speech ran 1,964 words. In contrast, FDR spent 512 words to ask for war against Japan, Harry Truman devoted 1,150 words to announce that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima, and most famously at Gettysburg Abraham Lincoln managed in 278 words to recast Union objectives for the entire Civil War. [...] Does prolixity make a difference? Yes, for in the absence of memorable word smithing, prolixity obscures, befogs, and lowers the clouds on what should be a crystalline rhetorical landscape. [...] Winston Churchill exemplified this for all time when he declared that "You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word. It is victory." In the same speech, he offered his audience nothing but, "blood, toil, tears and sweat". [...] If the President made a show of taking responsibility — unimaginatively piggybacking on [Truman's] meme "the buck stops here" — it was only to make sure that the buck did not, in fact, stop with him — at least for now.” [emphasis added]
— Richard F. Miller, Harvard-trained historian and author of In Words and Deeds: Battle Speeches in History

We live in a time when sheep receive their marching orders from the likes of "American Idol" judges and pseudo-newscasters, who not only worship at the footstool and the evacuated stool of The Obama Himself, but tinkle on the tingle that creeps in its petty pace up their hairy legs. These clownish "judges" who lavish praise and spittle on every secretion that emanates from the vacuoles of their false-god's holiness, establish the meritorious standards for our society of ignoramuses.

Nevertheless, The Obama Himself offers nothing but smoke, mirrors, beers, and whines. A whole lot of nothing but grief, with no relief in sight or sound.

Post #1,080 No Relief in Sight or Sound