[lbo-talk] Count Copula and the "yes we can" speech

[John Thornton]

John Gulick wrote:
> shag (golly, I can't believe I wrote that!) posted:
>  
> "It was the call of workers who organized;
> women who reached for the ballot;
> a President who chose the moon as our new frontier;
> and a King who took us to the mountaintop and
> pointed the way to the Promised Land."
>  
> Gulick:
>  
> Contra John Thornton, I don't find this to be spellbinding,
> but rather, insipid. Especially with Obama's pseudo-MLK
> cadence added.
>  
> Barack Obama: political rhetoric
> Blink 182: punk rock
> New Line Cinema: independent film
>  
> Others may follow suit if they so desire. 

It isn't spell-binding on video or when read and no one claimed it was. 
Nor has anyone, least of all me, ever said his speeches had substance. I 
wrote specifically that "There is no substance to what he says..."
If you go see him speak and want to disagree that he is a very 
mesmerizing speaker in person (which is my claim) then that's just fine 
but the above is a poor counter to my point about him being a 
spell-binding speaker. Perhaps if you re-read my post you'll see why 
your point above does nothing to refute my opinion that Obama instills a 
euphoria in his audience.

John Thornton