A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Obama’s speech

This is too little too late in blogospheric terms but, hey, it’s my blog, right? I thought it was very good, but I have no idea how it will play to the mythical “undecideds.” Good stuff on McCain and the Republicans (the line about McCain voting with Bush 90% of the time, the business about the “you’re on your own” society). Very good deflections of the GOP sniping (the “celebrity” meme, the patriotism canard). Obama showed he can give as good as he gets. And, of course, you would have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by the sight of a black man accepting the nomination of a major American political party.

I would’ve liked to hear more about a different foreign policy vision, not just that Iraq was a strategic blunder and that he’ll hunt down Bin Laden (though I suppose that was necessary). Also, what about the Constitution, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, etc.? (John Kerry of all people was excellent on this stuff in his speech on Wednesday.) I understand that economic anxiety is a more immediate issue for most people, but this would’ve fit perfectly with his theme that America can be better than the last 8 years. The last line fell flat for me; I don’t like it when politicians ascribe qualities to the American dream that properly belong to God. YMMV.

3 responses to “Obama’s speech”

  1. “YMMV”?

    And I found the pious “God Bless You”s and “God Bless the United States of America”s a bit out of place.

    But perhaps I was just being overly suspicious that they were being said because the handlers told the speakers to say them.

    If so, I don’t know that they will help with the only people they could help with, especially sensitive Christians for whom evidence of faith is a requirement for politicians.

  2. YMMV=”your mileage may vary.”

    The line that rubbed me the wrong way was the one about “the hope we confess.” “God bless the USA” is pretty standard presidential boilerplate I think. I certainly recall Bush, Clinton, H.W. Bush, and Reagan using it in their speeches.

  3. “The hope we confess”?

    I don’t recall that, but it sounds far too “this is a Christian nation” for me.

    And the idea that Democrats would make noises like that is both shocking and disappointing.

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