UK Columnist: Obama's worst speech; US Authors shower praise

[Regis Philbin]

Wow! Sheeeesh! You can't please liberals no matter what. Can't win with them.

The Obama didn't help things by flubbing the oath of office (a taste of what's to come from him?). That was...funny.

While I thought his speech was about as thrilling as watching paint dry, I don't think it was his WORST EVER. LOL

Part of this is The Messiah's own fault. He raised the expectations so ridiculously high that he can't possibly meet them. Any subpar performance by The Messiah will be viewed as a letdown by his worshipers.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/alex_spillius/blog/2009/01/20/barack_obama_inauguration_his_worst_speech

Barack Obama inauguration: his worst speech

Posted By: Alex Spillius at Jan 20, 2009 at 19:56:31

QUITE a day, but not much of speech unfortunately. Obama got where he is by speechifying, but this effort would not have won him many votes. It was his worst on a grand stage, though still better than most politicians could muster.

The delivery, as ever, was first class, but the message was wasn't clear enough and the language not insufficiently inspiring.

As soon as the applause had died down, an African American standing man near me on the Mall said to his friend: "I thought the speech was ." Another woman said, correctly, that "we had heard it all before at other events".

In a way Obama was a victim of his own success. Having given so many dynamic speeches he had set his own bar very high. What he tried to do at his inauguration was tell Americans that they had to sacrifice to make gains, while making them believe this was well within their capabilities. The emphasis on sacrifice was too weak however.

To the disappointment of many black people in the crowd, he also made but one reference to the enormity of a black man occupying the White House for the first time. Obama has never laboured the issue of his race, but on this historic day the issue needed more.

[pinky]

Aside from the fact that Obama was momentarily startled by the fact that Chief Justice Roberts gave the prompt for the oath incorrectly, this writer claims that the language in Obama's speech was "not insufficiently inspiring."

Shouldn't that be "sufficiently" rather than insufficiently?

And he's criticizing Obama? :noway:

[Richard Tafoya]

Writers praise Barack Obama's inaugural address
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/inauguration/la-na-inaug-literati21-2009jan21,0,7682733.story
Author Ron Carlson was watching the president's syntax. "What courage," he said, "to use a complex sentence talking to a million people! By expecting the best of us, he just might get it."

Nonfiction writer Mark Kurlansky said the speech "was the most sophisticated view of the world and our role in it of any inaugural address in history."

Others felt the call to action. "With an Obama speech, listening is sometimes enough," said Pulitzer Prize-winner Thomas Powers, "but not this time. The inauguration speech is one we ought to read. It strikes me as clear and determined and grounded in confidence that of course we are still in the middle of the American story, not nearing the end."

Author Susan Straight watched the speech with her two mixed-race daughters. Afterward, they discussed their ancestors, the women in their family who never had birth certificates. "We talked about how hard these women had worked, orphaned and enslaved and desperate, to keep their children alive and get them educated."

Other writers praised the absence of the first person singular. "The word that stood out the most for me," said author Marisa Silver, "was the word 'we.' Taking the 'I' out of the equation makes us keenly aware of the power and responsibility that we, each of us, have to make differences."

USC professor Leo Braudy was moved to think about the difference between general forces in history and the force of the individual, particularly someone who, like Obama, embodies past polarities. "This is how history moves," he said. "It's all well and good to talk about the rise of liberalism or the fall of communism, but really it's the individual who carries these forces within him and is able to move history forward."

[DoubleEdgeSword]

As soon as the applause had died down, an African American standing man near me on the Mall said to his friend:

Who is this bozo?

[Richard Tafoya]

Who is this bozo?
A blogger who freelances on a number of UK news sites. And who apparently doesn't use a copy editor. This was his "conservative" critique for the Telegraph, which is a conservative-leaning publication.

[ForeverRebel]

To the disappointment of many black people in the crowd, he also made but one reference to the enormity of a black man occupying the White House for the first time. Obama has never laboured the issue of his race, but on this historic day the issue needed more.

Why should he? His message is that we are all one people in this country, and that united we can fix the mess we're in.

Laboring on about race would have been contradictory coming from him. Yes it is a historic day, one I didn't think I'd see during my lifetime. But still, this day is about everyone. :)

[DoubleEdgeSword]

A blogger who freelances on a number of UK news sites. And who apparently doesn't use a copy editor. This was his "conservative" critique for the Telegraph, which is a conservative-leaning publication.

His blog reads like a high school essay. And not a very good one. C-.

[db44]

His blog reads like a high school essay. And not a very good one. C-.

Which is why Regis likes him so much. He writes up to Bush's level.