I’ve been noticing some subtle criticism of Barack Obama — criticism that he is a gifted orator.
Wait, being a good speaker is bad? You’re not going to convince this preacher that the spoken word should be suspected. The spoken word has the power to transform people for the better, to inspire them, to move them to give selflessly of themselves to the highest ideals. At least, that’s what we preachers like to think we do (or try to do) when we preach.
Julius Lester puts it this way in his blog:
“To stand in the Lincoln Memorial and read the words of Abraham Lincoln, to stand in the Jefferson Memorial and read the words of Thomas Jefferson is almost a religious experience because their words lift our souls out of the day-to-day and into the realm of the ideals that have shaped our nation, ideals that have been lost, especially over the last eight years.” [Link.]
Amen, amen. Never underestimate the power of the spoken word.
I’ve come to dread BHO’s annual Father’s Day oration when he takes shots at the dead-beat Dads. The moralizing gets pretty old quick. Just wait…
Bill @ 1 — Sorry you don’t like Obama’s Father’s Day speech (something I never heard of until you mentioned it, so I’ll be curious to hear it when it comes around). But the fact of the matter is that Obama is the best orator we’ve had in the White House since Ronald Reagan. Time will tell whether Obama is better than Reagan or not up to Reagan’s level — but you’d be really hard pressed to convince me that Bush, Clinton, or Bush was a better speaker than Obama. Bush senior was a decent speaker but no one would hold him up as a great speaker. Clinton misused his voice (bad vocal technique) and tried to sound like jes-plain-folks when it was obvious he was not. The current Bush stumbles over his words and heads off into digressions too easily.
Contrast those three with Reagan, who was a master of oratory — he was direct, he knew how to speak to a camera and to a crowd, he stayed on message, he had a great voice and used it extremely well — liberals made fun of him because he was an actor, but actors really do know how to speak, and Reagan went beyond mere acting technique by including a message that inspired millions of people. Sure, Reagan had his off days, but overall he was really good. As for Obama, he’s far above Bush, Clinton, and Bush, and heading up towards Reagan’s level.