Oratorical Animal

Calling JFK

During the presidential campaign, any number of reporters and pundits compared President Obama to JFK. Those analogies gave way to FDR and Lincoln, however, once the economic crisis hit. Yesterday, however, President Obama went right back to the Kennedy playbook.

In 1962, after months of agonizing negotiations with US Steel and the United Steelworkers, the Kennedy Administration happily announced that the industry would award wage increases equal only to the rise of productivity. That meant, Kennedy thought, that he had slowed or even stopped the rise of inflation. Management would surely not increase prices beyond those wages, given how hard Kennedy had worked. Surely they would keep their word? Surely they were not that greedy?

They were in fact that greedy. They jacked up those prices. JFK blasted them for their irresponsibility. In a most pointed remark, he noted that "some time ago" he had asked people what they could do for their country and now he had the steel industry's answer. He also leaked his "private" remark that his father had warned him all businessmen were sons of bitches, but he hadn't believed it until now. The Administration hammered the industry, orchestrating a shock and awe campaign against the increase and Attorney General Robert Kennedy, muttered darkly of FBI investigations, collusion, and anti-trust action. The Kennedys were determined to roll back the price increases and, to borrow from Warren Zevon, they rolled out lawyers, guns, and money. The Kennedys won.

Cut to yesterday when the word went out that Wall Street firms had awarded nearly $20 billion in bonuses to their executives with one hand while rummaging around in taxpayer pockets with the other. In words that directly echoed John Kennedy, Obama fumed, "That is the height of irresponsibility. It is shameful. And part of what we're going to need is for folks on Wall Street who are asking for help to show some restraint and show some discipline and show some sense of responsibility." The Administration is now discussing the enjoyably named "claw back provisions" for the next bailout, determined to roll back those bonuses. Sadly, however, the president is sending his new Treasury Secretary to talk to them.

Think about this, Mr. President. John Kennedy sent not his eminent Wall Street Secretary of the Treasury, Douglas Dillon, to express displeasure. He sent an altogether unpleasant man, the Black Prince, the Attorney General of the United States. Sir, it's for moments like this that you hired the Rahmbo. Let Rahm be Rahm.

Worst. Speech. Ever.

That's an extraordinary statement, but Blago's apologia is certainly in the running for the coveted title. On the one hand, Blago understands that a key strategy in this situation is identification. If an orator can convince the audience that they share qualities and/or acts, the audience may be less likely to convict. On the other hand, Blago's efforts at identification reveal precisely why he should be convicted.

Put simply, Blago is sure everyone in politics thinks and behaves exactly as he thinks and behaves. At one point, he spoke at length about waking up on the morning he was arrested and just how his life changed and he urged the audience to think about how they would feel in that situation. Elsewhere, he's compared himself to King and Mandela.

He doesn't see the difference between himself and others; he thinks he can create identification, common ground, with his audience because they think as he does. They, too, he believes, would make a deal for a Senate seat. They, too, would extort a children's hospital. They, too, would try to fire newspaper editors. It's how the world is. You make a deal. Prosecutors have unreasonably targeted him for things that everyone does.

Not only does he lack morals, he suffers from a complete lack of moral imagination. He honestly seems to believe that he resembles the Reverend King. Because, y'know, King would see that Senate seat as a "f***** valuable thing."  

As a result, he's insulted all of us. Because Blago possesses only a hole where his conscience should be, he assumes that we, too, offer those we treasure only an empty moral universe. That's what his speech tells us. That's all the evidence I need to convict.

Free the Archives!

This is very good news. Under the Bush Administration, not only could the current president obfuscate, delay and lie, but all past presidents could as well. They could deny access to materials that historians, rhetoricians, and, oh heck, American citizens wanted to look at because, y'know, we only paid their salaries. And now pay their pensions. We shouldn't get to examine what they did in office. That would be wrong, as an ex-president with experience in matters of deceit once said.

Now, initial reports indicate that President Obama's (Ahhhhhh, that feels good to write) executive orders yesterday included provisions to free the archives. Hurray! Now, if only we could free Katie Holmes.

Hypocrisy Watch

Good times ahead. The first few months of the Obama Administration will supply a series of small entertainments, one of which will be the massive hypocrisy of various Republican senators and not a few Democratic senators (looking at you, DiFi). Today's installment? Senate Judiciary Committee Republicans, led by Arlen ("Wow, so that's a spine?") Specter, have put a temporary hold on the nomination of Eric Holder for Attorney General.

Let me get this straight. Holder played a minor role in a bad Clinton pardon? He worked for a short time for some corporations? Those are their concerns. From the guys who thought Alberto Gonzales was just swell? Refused to make Mike Mukasey define torture? Never stopped waterboarding? Rolled over for Bush's wiretapping program? Sanctioned Gitmo? These guys think Holder is a problem?

I just threw up in my mouth. Only a little.

Seriously, if the Democrats play such situations right, this'll be a very useful line of argument. The contrast between any problems Republicans think they discover now or in the future and Bush-era problems will be enormous. And at that point, it becomes a simple a fortiori argument. That takes the form: If this guy'd rob his mother, he'd rob anyone. So, Senator Specter: If you didn't object to, oh, waterboarding, you're now going to get mad about, oh, Marc Rich? Really? If you thought Cheney was fine, you mean you're mad at Biden for X? You thought Miers was qualified for the Supreme Court and you're mad about Y? You voted for Gonzales and now you're doubting Holder? See my drift?

The Bushies. The gift that keeps on giving. Now that they've been sent away. Far away.

Update: So, it's about torture. They want to make sure that no one gets prosecuted. Nice. Very nice. Mr. Holder, you can't be Attorney General until you promise not to enforce the law (the double negative seems appropriate here). That'll make for an interesting oath of office.  

The Flaw in The One

So, Mr. President, thought you'd chat up members of the Illinois National Guard. Talk some baseball. Found out that the percentage of Sox fans in Illinois exactly equals the percentage of Americans who support George W. Bush, did you? Time to put away those childish things, Mr. President. Time to begin a new era of responsibility as a Cubs fan.

Seriously--nice shout out to the Urbana National Guard unit. Much cheering in this living room.  

Welcome!

Nice to have a new friend on the block. I'll be very happy to read Ron Greene's thoughts on money and speech. Anytime.

The Big Oops

No, I'm not pointing to the fact that the Chief Justice messed up his forty words yesterday. Rather, no one--I mean, no one--seems to know that the words of Thomas Paine, not George Washington, closed (nearly) President Obama's Inaugural Address yesterday. Not all of the television commentators. Not the "experts" at the New York Times. No one.

Come on, people. It's called "The Google Machine." Really. You load in the words. You find Thomas Paine. Honest to God.

Or, you know, Mr. Safire, you could read a book. Like this one. Or, far better, this one. Pages 138-143 in that one. If you're interested.

I understood the first couple of times this happened. Felt a little bit smug that I correctly recognized the words. But for people to continue to make this mistake today? In print? Hmmmmm. 

Our Better History

It's impossible to judge a speech directly after its delivery, but I suspect that this speech, like Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural, will live on as a near great address--not one of the five immortals (Jefferson, Lincoln I & II, FDR, JFK) but close. Why only close? As my mentor might note, President Obama addressed timely issues in a not quite timeless way. Like Reagan, Obama was firmly rooted in this moment. Jefferson spoke to the timeless unity of Americans, Lincoln to the timeless tragedy of war. Obama stayed here, I think. Here are some other immediate impressions.

Obama, like King and others, relies heavily on civil religion. His theme is renewal; he calls for adherence to old values; he invokes the Revolution; he asks for a renewal of that covenant.

A key way, if not the key way, into this President's (I DO like writing that) public address is allusion. His discourse constitutes a dense web of references to American history; out of that mosaic, one can start to get a strong sense of his views. My quick count reveals allusions and/or quotations from the Bible (I Corinthians, 13:11), Thomas Paine, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan, and, interestingly, John McCain.

In regard to the latter, Obama says of our armed forces, "We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty, but because they embody the spirit of service; a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves. And yet, at this moment - a moment that will define a generation - it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all." The "willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves" is almost a direct quotation of a famous McCain line--it certainly signals Obama's determination to make common cause with his former opponent.

The final quotation of the speech--the winter line--is NOT George Washington as everyone on television has been saying. It's Thomas Paine, from the first number of "The Crisis," the one that famously begins, "These are the times that try men's souls..." Before Washington crossed the frozen Delaware to attack the Hessians in Trenton, he had the "Crisis" read to his shivering soldiers. Given the day's weather, the line seems quite appropriate! In addition, city and country can easily stand in for blue and red--another call for unity.

President Obama's ability to orchestrate voices is illustrated nicely here: "We remain a young nation, but in the words of Scripture, the time has come to set aside childish things. The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness." Kennedy (young nation) gives way to Reagan (time is come/time is now) gives way to First Corinthians which, in turn, gives way to Lincoln (better history/better angels) which, in turn, may invoke the music played earlier (precious gift/simple gifts) or the old hymn (precious gift) which, in turn, concludes with the interwoven Jefferson/Lincoln (equality, happiness/full measure) from the Declaration of Independence and Gettsyburg.

Obama did read Lincoln's Second Inaugural because he's nearly as shy; he uses the first person only three times by my count and all three occur in the first few paragraphs. This was about We the People--and the journey metaphor and the emphasis on our founding documents recurred throughout the speech and helped to pull it together. So did the allusive emphasis (FDR/JFK) on generations.

He also slyly embodies his experience as the American experience through the emphasis on immigration--for us, they came, etc. Obama is interesting that way--he's always negotiating or articulating together the African American and immigrant experience, as even his first book shows, and that's been a constant rhetorical project for him. 

Anyway, some first thoughts. What do you think?  

Happy Inaugural Day!

It's been a long time coming. For those of you who are interested, I'll be posting periodically throughout the day. I've also been/will be a busy little guy in other ways. For those of you interested in seeing my views on Inaugural Addresses filtered through the mainstream liberal gotcha media doncha know, you can go here. For those who want to hear me unfiltered, I'll be on WDWS 1400am at 12:30 or so (they say). It doesn't look like you can get it online, but, who knows, I may be wrong or it may become a podcast. Then there's this from SmilePolitely, a local online magazine--a number of familiar folks from the CU. As the editor said, there are some very articulate and sharp people living here. Makes me kinda proud.

As everything does today. It's a good day to be an American.

An Obama Press Lexicon (to be ctd.)

Look: You're not smart. Seriously. When's the last time you read a book without a box of crayons next to you? I mean, c'mon. What position did you hold in the Bush Administration?

Well: (European siren sound) Russert Question. Russert Question. Have I stopped beating my wife? Well, what can I do but give you my best Reagan? Weeellll, (chuckle, chuckle)...

What We're Looking At Here: This isn't that hard, people. Honestly. You always want to get Australia early in the game because you can defend it by fortifying only Siam or Indonesia and you get continent bonus armies. It's on that level.

Exactly: Thank God, you finally get what we're looking at here.

I Want To Be Realistic Here: I hear the bad news comin, it's rollin round the bend, And I ain't seen good news, since I don't know when. Bush shot us all in DC, just to watch us die. I have to be president; I could curl up and cry.