Slower But Wiser

» GeraldS_2 - Adlai Stevenson, Harry Truman.

Phil, now that you point it out I realize that this is one of the things which has irritated me for years. Our generation has been cheated.

Adlai Stevenson was an excellent speaker and if I was capable of judging at the tender age of twenty six, a thinker as well. But the public chose Eisenhower instead: a man incapable of delivering a coherent sentence, a man who played golf while Europe and Asia were rising from the ashes of the WWII conflagration ala Nero and his fiddle.

Harry Truman wasn't eloquent but was surely able to convey his thoughts in single syllable words. His speeches were entertaining.

But television replays Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you.....". Really profound, huh?

Or Reagan's "Tear down this wall....". That surely isn't in the same league as "Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth...".

-- posted by GeraldS_2

Permalink Print Discussion

» JS_Mill - chomskyian musings

Of course, good old Noam would suggest that the soundbite culture is a cause rather than a result of the Western polity's inability or refusal to think about political matters -- we've been anaesthetised by the media barrage because the people who own the TV stations have an interest in our not thinking about what they're up to. I'm not sure I believe this 100%, but on the other hand, I do find myself speaking in longer sentences since getting rid of that television.

Bush is a separate case, however -- I thought that his "vision thing" and other verbal infelicities were the result of a mild case of jargon aphasia, possibly traceable to a head wound?

On the other hand, I may be wrong.

jsm

-- posted by JS_Mill

Permalink Print Discussion

» not_him_again - I wonder

I wonder just how many of those eloquent men would have been quite so eloquent if they had been educated in the Public School system of today?

Of course, there are those who think that the founders were actually a SMARTER bunch than the pols of today, but we mustn't dwell on that; we might have to admit that their policies deserve examination too- like that awful protectionism, created by Hamilton and endorsed by Washington.

Funny how today's "Republicans" want to return to the principles of the founders, except where it might cause their stock prices to drop.
Personally, I am glad to see most (with at least one notable exception) of them lack eloquence. I would not want anyone to confuse the founders with this crowd. It takes real courage to vote against the Kosovo operation, and then pass a resolution supporting the troops in the field.

I might remind Gerry that "four score and seven years ago" was written by a Republican America-firster. Funny how that right wing sometimes comes up with winners- but of course that right wing is a little different than the blue suited internationalists of today, who have the unmitigated gall to call themselves "Republicans".

May our country see through those in both parties who are selling them out, and reject the greedy, power hungry internationalists who do not love our country- a country that eloquent men put their lives on the line for.

-- posted by not_him_again

Permalink Print Discussion