Defend language. Elect Obama.
The Republicans want voters to believe that because Barack Obama is articulate, eloquent, an intellectual, he must be deceiving them. The Republicans are prepared to unleash hatred and fear in order to cling to the power they have used to really and truly screw up America. John McCain, who is not the same man he was before he became the nominee, is clearly uncomfortable with the desperate measures his party is employing, but Sarah Palin is really into it—the glint in her eye, the metallic shriek, she’s scary.Â
The editors of the New Yorker endorse Barack Obama for President of the United States, citing among his qualifications his eloquence.
“Although his opponents have tried to attack him as a man of “mere†words, Obama has returned eloquence to its essential place in American politics. The choice between experience and eloquence is a false one––something that Lincoln, out of office after a single term in Congress, proved in his own campaign of political and national renewal. Obama’s “mere†speeches on everything from the economy and foreign affairs to race have been at the center of his campaign and its success; if he wins, his eloquence will be central to his ability to govern.”
James Wood points out that the Republicans have declared war on words.Â
“In recent elections, the Republican hate word has been “liberal,†or “Massachusetts,†or “Gore.†In this election, it has increasingly been “words.†Barack Obama has been denounced again and again as a privileged wordsmith, a man of mere words who has “authored†two books (to use Sarah Palin’s verb), and done little else. . .The once bipartisan campaign adviser Dick Morris and his wife and co-writer, Eileen McGann, argue that the McCain camp, in true Rovian fashion, is “using the Democrat’s articulateness against him†(along with his education, his popularity, his intelligence, his wife—pretty much everything but his height, though it may come to that). . .Doesn’t this reflect a deep suspicion of language itself?”
Sarah Palin’s invention of the term “verbage” seems to sum up the Republican position that language is garbage. The book of the Palin administration has already been written: it’s 1984 by George Orwell.
Defend words. Defend education. Elect Barack Obama.Â
Why should we care about their elections when we can’t vote? Because what happens there, we feel right here. Besides, we know a bit more than they do about electing the unworthy and unqualified because we can “relate” to them.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 13th, 2008 at 20:48
Palin loves to use the term “American exceptionalism” in her speeches. When she mindlessly extols “American exceptionalism”, and yet in the next breath, sneers at Obama’s so-called elitism (there’s another sad casualty of this year’s election), my mind reels at the brazen contradiction so fiercely and aggressively declared. Doesn’t she realize she is the very antithesis of the concept of exceptionalism? What a breathtaking display of arrogant cluelessness! In the second presidential debate (which I missed), there was this question: “What don’t you know and how will you learn/know it?” Now THAT’s a question I would love for Palin to answer.
October 14th, 2008 at 12:38
“The book of the Palin administration has already been written: it’s 1984 by George Orwell.”
Hyperbole.
October 14th, 2008 at 18:16
What politics lacks now is the presence of great statesmen – especially in this country. So far, nobody’s attempting to write good, emphatic speeches, and I don’t even know if politicians read anything than “the Bible.”
Statesmanship is why most of us (or our parents) are in awe of Ninoy Aquino, Ferdinand Marcos, Claro M. Recto, etc. – these people know how to debate properly, string sentences properly, and do not need movies to be popular. And Pinoys voted for them. Nowadays, look at most of the congressmen in the provinces – they look and act like goons.
October 14th, 2008 at 19:37
We care not because the world owes its existence to America, golly, but because we think eloquence therefore we speak tres Americain. This Palin is fast exposing herself as a pathetic excuse for democracy. Impale, this Palin, right through the skull onto the wall of shame!
October 15th, 2008 at 08:49
not to mention where did Obama get his money way way back when he was in college.
October 15th, 2008 at 08:50
they’re using it against him as well.
October 24th, 2008 at 11:05
It’s because back then, if a leader wants to rally people into a cause he would go in front of them and say something that would cause quite a genuine emotional stir in their gut-parts. Now with digital mass media all over the place leaders resort to quick jabs and artista appeal to get the message accross.
I reckon this is the reason why there is a desire in young people to seek the “ZOMFG Epic” in things these days.