George Packer, writing in the New Yorker, warns that President Obama’s upcoming inaugural address may be “a bit of a snooze.” He says most inaugural addresses are. Obama “isn’t a phrasemaker,” because he is “too complex, too nuanced, too elusive, and too careful, for words that stick.” Packer doubts that even the “signature phrase” from Obama’s first inaugural address–“a new era of responsibility”–will “enter the ages.” About that, he is undoubtedly right.
Packer notes, however, that Jefferson, Lincoln, FDR, JFK, Reagan, and Bush 43 all gave inaugural addresses that included memorable phrases. Since it seems unlikely that all those presidents were significantly less complex, nuanced, elusive, and careful than Obama, we need an alternate theory to explain the point of Packer’s piece. Let’s review what he wrote about Obama’s first inaugural address, which is somewhat different from what one might expect, given Packer’s current comments.
On January 20, 2009, Packer wrote that Obama’s address had “echoes of Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt.” Its “tone and vision” had been “absolutely equal to the occasion and the times.” The “most eloquent words” were addressed to the entire world: “we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.” The most “passionately delivered” lines began: “We will not apologize for our way of life nor will we waiver in its defense.” In short, Obama “delivered something better than rhetorical excitement”–he had spoken “the truth,” which “carries its own poetry,” and he had made “impossible” the job of the poet following him that day.
Four years later, Packer remembers only a single phrase–the not-for-the-ages “new era of responsibility”–and cautions that the history of inaugural addresses suggests Obama’s one Monday may slightly bore us. What’s going on here?
It is not that Obama cannot come up with words that stick. Consider just a few: exceptional like Greece is exceptional; punished with a baby; typical white person; at a certain point you’ve made enough money; shovel-ready jobs that weren’t shovel-ready; pivoting to jobs; the stupidly-acting Cambridge police; we can’t eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees and just expect other countries to say OK; I don’t want the folks who created the mess to do a lot of talking; I have a gift, Harry; this time, you’ve got me; they should be thanking me; if you like your plan, you can keep it; Slurpee-sipping opponents; that business of yours, you didn’t build that; say that louder, Candy; I am a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. Few presidents have had so many sticky words.
In the last paragraph of his current piece, Packer expresses his hope that Obama will surprise us with an address Monday that “treats us like his intellectual equals” (a challenge perhaps even greater than the one given the poet last time) with “vivid prose.” It is as if Packer believes the complex, nuanced, elusive, careful Obama is capable of a speech with echoes of Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt, but does not want readers setting the bar very high. Call it the soft sycophancy of lowering expectations.
Treat us like intellectual equals? (Your string of quotes hints at that.) Does the President believe that we members of the great unwashed are truly his intellectual equals? The arrogance he displays shows contempt for his audience. I think that what Packer wants is memorable liberal talking points. Of course that is indicative of what Packer wants. Liberal groupthink is his idea of intellectual rigor.
Obama is always "a bit of a snooze." I hit fast-forward button every time his face appears on my screen. He's the president and what he says has consequence but I prefer to get the gist from the newscaster. Never mind the content of his speech which is invariably cynical, hypocritical and fundamentally dishonest–the phrasing and delivery are mind numbing. Obama is a crashing bore. n n
Unfortunately many Americans are his intellectual equal. That is no compliment.
Memorable? What could be more memorable than that stirring tribute the president paid to a Navy corpse-man?
If I were old enough to remember him, I would be missing Calvin Coolidge right about now. These words hung over the fireplace at his home in Northampton, Massachusetts: n nA wise old owl lived in an oak. nThe more he saw the less he spoke. nThe less he spoke the more he heard; nWhy can't we be like that old bird? n
"But at all times, the organizer’s goal was not to lead his people anywhere, but to encourage them to take action on their own behalf." n nWhat could be a higher or more noble calling?
Take action on their own behalf like stop having children out of wedlock? Find a job and show up on time every day? and then understand what work ethic means? n nTaking action on their own behalf like Bill Gates did, like Steve Jobs did, Like Speilberg did, like Jay Z did, n nnot to get people who make poor choices and are unrestrained and don't pay any income tax force the rest of us to pay for their food stamps and welfare and 99 weeks of unemployment. n nAmerica is a place where everyone can take action to better themselves-but should not be a place where women have babies just so they can get government welfare and section 8 housing, which they can destroy.
Barry O'Bama – as fine an Irish Catholic poilitician as exists in all of Chicago – has not had an original thought in all his life. Nothing he thinks or says, no matter how well read from a teleprompter, could not be heard in any faculty lounge since the 1950s. Thus his speeches are banal in content and utterly predictable in style. For true originality in thought, weight of content and masterful delivery go to JFK for his "ask not" inaugural, his Rice University "because it is hard" speech announcing the Apollo program, or his "Ich bin ein Berliner" triumph. Or any of Reagan's hand-written gubernatorial addresses, to say nothing of his "Challenger" address. For that matter G.W. Bush delivered a pretty good speech. But for the absolute master, see Churchill. He wrote his own stuff, every word.
The fact that after four years there are still fools like Packer peddling this nonsense is proof that many Americans are, in fact, Obama's "intellectual equals." That's a scary thought.
I figure he'll just use the Sermon on the Mount and the news, at least that much of it that can recognize it, will ignore the plagiarism.
“too complex, too nuanced, too elusive, and too careful, for words that stick.” – liberal code words for "too stupid, but we can't say that about a fellow liberal and a black one to boot".