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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: steve harris who wrote (309746)	6/13/2009 8:14:32 AM
From: Tom Clarke	6 Recommendations Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 793762

When you “must” do what “I” say Tom Bevan observes that President Obama’s calculated tactical and rhetorical devices are getting a little tiresome, as even the NYT has noticed. Bevan sees potential peril for Obama ahead in his personalizing so much of a grand and sweeping agenda that seems further and further to depart from reality: Obama’s speeches are often strikingly self referential. Clearly, Obama sees unique background and his life experiences as an asset and a rhetorical tool, which helps explain why his recent speech in Cairo was peppered with 68 first person references (I, me, my, or mine). But the habit carries over to other speeches as well, leaving the impression that Obama is often interested in talking about Obama. In his speech honoring the 65th Anniversary of D-Day, for example, Obama made 10 first person references. While not a huge number in itself, it was eight more than Gordon Brown made and nine more than Stephen Harper made in their respective speeches that day. In his aforementioned national security speech on May 21, President Obama made an astounding 147 first person references. Most importantly of all, however, Obama’s high profile speechmaking on a range of big issues from restructuring GM to solving Middle East peace has dramatically increased the pressure on him to deliver results. There is no doubt that Obama has bitten off far more than he can chew, and has doubled down by personalizing so many initiatives. The Cairo speech was noteworthy not only because Obama appeared in it 68 times, but also because at 30 points in the speech, he told other people and nations what they “must” do. Obama’s line in the Cairo speech that no single nation should decide who should have nuclear weapons was widely taken as a rebuke to American power. However, there is another reading of this which is consistent with Obama’s constant first-person references and his personal ability to tell his listeners what they “must” and must not do. America shouldn’t tell other nations what they must do, but Mr. Obama thinks it is just fine for him to personally do so. Newsweek may have gotten it about right. You will recall President Obama’s speech as ASU, where he derided traditional American aspirations of getting ahead in life, even as he ticked off, one by one, his own achievement of each of those goals. Hmmm. Let’s see. Aloof, charismatic, obsessed with power, “absolutely certain” that he has a special personal destiny. This can’t end well. No, this can’t end well at all. dinocrat.com