Every great speech has at least one unforgettable line; that’s what makes them great speeches. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was not about dreams; it was a forceful demand for justice. Yet we remember his summation, not the substance. John F. Kennedy was known for saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” but what was the speech about? When did he give it? Why?
“Four score and seven years ago” is basically a recitation of a date, hardly memorable in and of itself, unless, as in this case, it demarcates a significant point in time. For such a short speech, Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address is filled with memorable lines.
CNN is rating Barack Obama’s acceptance speech as the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States as a classic. Network commentators rate it an “A.” Yet no one quotes a single memorable line. In my reading of the speech, the only line that jumped out at me was, “Don’t tell me…” and that’s because I’m tired of hearing him tell me what not to tell him. A Google search yielded no consensus, either.
So, what was so great about it? I admit, I only watched about 30 seconds of it, opting to read it instead. I can’t stand his voice or delivery, so once I saw that he was reading the speech from strategically placed TelePrompTers, just like he always does, I figured why not read it too? I’m tired of people grading Obama on a curve and calling it progress. If it takes a paragraph or more to explain what was so great about something, you can be sure it wasn’t all that great.
You reacted to all of Clinton’s feints and are just lucky she was never allowed to hit back, what with Nancy Pelosi pinning her arms behind her. You fell for McCain’s feints, too, and even let him lull you to sleep before he sucker punched you. Ha, ha. Welcome to combat, brother. Doesn’t do much good to stack the race deck, just to build a house of cards, now does it? This is high-stakes poker, for all the marbles. You blinked. You blew.
Many people wonder at the phenomenon that is “Obama.” Who is he? How did he get here? Why do we care?
Hey, how do I know? Life is full of mysteries and great unanswerable questions that have plagued mankind for millennia; there are some things we just have to accept on faith. Deal with it.
There is one aspect of Obamania for which I can provide some insight. In fact, I already have. In my very first post, I explained the irrational “Magic of the “O.”
Now, the reason white people embrace this transcendent, transformational, just-black-enough symbol of the promise of America’s future and triumph over its’ past is simple. White people have a thing about black people with funny names. Especially if that name starts with “O”. Think about it, Oprah, Omarosa, Barack Obama. These names work like gris-gris on unsuspecting Caucasians. As soon as they hear these names they go into a trance-like state, the likes of which have not been seen in America since the Beatles first appeared on Ed Sullivan. These poor innocent descendants of Europeans seem to become hopelessly lobotomized zombie-changelings upon the mere mention of these incantations disguised as names and can’t seem to stop themselves from giving these funny-named black people money. Why else would Omarosa ever have a job?
So, as anyone can plainly see, the political science lab created candidate with the magic voodoo name and the conveniently caramel skin is simply unstoppable. To some, this realization is a comfort, a fulfillment, even a wonder to behold. To the non-delusional, non-believers, however, it’s just freaking creepy.
Now, you may say, “Why just pick on white people, huh? Black people are irrational about him too-oo!” You’re absolutely right, oh Figment of My Imagination, but the reason for black infatuation with electing Barack Obama is simple. We want to rule the world.
Think about it; Oprah, Omarosa, Obama. It’s staaarrrrtinnnng!
Don’t believe me? Next time you watch the news, if you can still stomach it, count how many times they say “Barack Obama.” Listen to how they say it. Barack Obama. Barack Obama. Barack Obama.
Okay, snap out of it, I just wanted to prove my point.
Checkmate! Yeah, I know it’s two different games, but so what? This whole election cycle so far has been completely divorced from reality, so I figure, why not play along?
“Whacha got?”
“I got an inexperienced black guy and a big mouth. You?”
“I got an old guy.”
“C’mon. Ya gotta do better than that! I got hokum in the hole!”
Every great speech has at least one unforgettable line; that’s what makes them great speeches. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech was not about dreams; it was a forceful demand for justice. Yet we remember his summation, not the substance. John F. Kennedy was known for saying, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country,” but what was the speech about? When did he give it? Why?
