(no subject)
I read and watched Obama's speech on his reverend and racism. I read it first, and intended only to watch a little of the speech because I knew it would be long. Since I haven't really watched him speak before (more on this later!), I thought I should at least look.
I watched the whole thing. If he is not elected as our next president I will cry. I don't care about every single detail of his views on every single issue: I, and we, will never find a perfect candidate. Just to see him handle himself, and express himself in complex, musical sentences was enough. I don't think I've gone ga-ga or been charmed off my feet. The last political speech I watched was this year's State of the Union: I realize comparing Bush and Obama is kind of like apples and oranges, but speaking style can be quite indicative of the person who is speaking.
Compare Bush's short, direct sentences and his focus on one topic at a time to Obama's style. Look at how many issues Obama can weave together; someone on planworld commented that Obama's speech was really an essay. Look at his discussion of successes and failings. He came across as intelligent, thoughtful, articulate (that word!), imperfect but cognizant of that imperfection, and more.
From my limited understanding of politics, and especially world politics, it is the nature and character of the politician as much as what he or she stands for that decides what happens. A person with great ideas who is shy or one who blows up at the least opposition will not get as much done as the person who is thoughtful and communicative. Bluntly, if people like you, they will be more willing to do business with you.
I don't know a thing about Hillary other than that I've been kind of sick of hearing about her since Bill's administration. This isn't to say that she's some shrill harpy no one likes. It's just that, man, I've heard her speak, and I didn't find what I was looking for there.
Also, dude: hating on CNN right now. And news sources in general that have blinking lights and scrolling words and little captions reminding people about what the speaker just said. (Yeah, I know that's for people who have just tuned in, but GOD it's annoying.) This is one of the major reasons I don't care to watch the news anymore--you know, along with shitty, uninteresting reporting, a general focus on stupid topics (I once watched two anchors try to play tennis for twenty minutes while news bites scrolled by on the bottom of the screen), and a growing realization that news reporting is really just a business that all comes back to the bottom line.
Anyway. Back to Obama's speech. Anyone else immediately start thinking West Wing? Anyone? I could see Toby and Sam or Will just like all over this thing. When Obama made a reference to OJ Simpson, I could hear Toby saying, "Yeah, and any speech with pop culture references has a shelf life of about twelve minutes." But in the complexity and tenor of his sentences, I could see them and Bartlet, too.
Please realize that I've spent the past four years or so since I discovered the show wishing and hoping that one day we would have a president like the West Wing's Jed Bartlet. If Martin Sheen made it to the White House, I would die happy.
I watched the whole thing. If he is not elected as our next president I will cry. I don't care about every single detail of his views on every single issue: I, and we, will never find a perfect candidate. Just to see him handle himself, and express himself in complex, musical sentences was enough. I don't think I've gone ga-ga or been charmed off my feet. The last political speech I watched was this year's State of the Union: I realize comparing Bush and Obama is kind of like apples and oranges, but speaking style can be quite indicative of the person who is speaking.
Compare Bush's short, direct sentences and his focus on one topic at a time to Obama's style. Look at how many issues Obama can weave together; someone on planworld commented that Obama's speech was really an essay. Look at his discussion of successes and failings. He came across as intelligent, thoughtful, articulate (that word!), imperfect but cognizant of that imperfection, and more.
From my limited understanding of politics, and especially world politics, it is the nature and character of the politician as much as what he or she stands for that decides what happens. A person with great ideas who is shy or one who blows up at the least opposition will not get as much done as the person who is thoughtful and communicative. Bluntly, if people like you, they will be more willing to do business with you.
I don't know a thing about Hillary other than that I've been kind of sick of hearing about her since Bill's administration. This isn't to say that she's some shrill harpy no one likes. It's just that, man, I've heard her speak, and I didn't find what I was looking for there.
Also, dude: hating on CNN right now. And news sources in general that have blinking lights and scrolling words and little captions reminding people about what the speaker just said. (Yeah, I know that's for people who have just tuned in, but GOD it's annoying.) This is one of the major reasons I don't care to watch the news anymore--you know, along with shitty, uninteresting reporting, a general focus on stupid topics (I once watched two anchors try to play tennis for twenty minutes while news bites scrolled by on the bottom of the screen), and a growing realization that news reporting is really just a business that all comes back to the bottom line.
Anyway. Back to Obama's speech. Anyone else immediately start thinking West Wing? Anyone? I could see Toby and Sam or Will just like all over this thing. When Obama made a reference to OJ Simpson, I could hear Toby saying, "Yeah, and any speech with pop culture references has a shelf life of about twelve minutes." But in the complexity and tenor of his sentences, I could see them and Bartlet, too.
Please realize that I've spent the past four years or so since I discovered the show wishing and hoping that one day we would have a president like the West Wing's Jed Bartlet. If Martin Sheen made it to the White House, I would die happy.