©John Cole, Scranton, Pa., Times, 2008
But whose words are they?
“Don’t tell me that words don’t matter. ‘I have a dream.’ Just words. ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ Just words. ‘We have nothing to fear but fear itself.’ Just words. Just speeches. It’s true that speeches don’t solve all problems, but what is also true is that if we can’t inspire the country to believe again, then it doesn’t matter how many plans and policies we have.”
—Barack Obama, Democratic presidential candidate, criticized by the Clinton campaign for being all-talk-no-substance, is now under fire for “borrowing” these words from a 2005 speech by Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, 2/17/08 (See Obama speech. And see Clinton's criticism.)
I feel no need to comment on the borrowing of the words but more on the words themselves. The passage describes its own words eloquently. Words inspire. I some more just words:
ReplyDelete"We keep moving forward..."
-Walt Disney
“Good writers borrow from great writers. The best just steal outright!” Aaron Sorkin (or successor, since I can’t remember in what season he left), creator of the A Few Good Men, The American President, and The West Wing, among other performance pieces.
ReplyDeleteAll of the words used by Mr. Obama are of such an eloquent turn they have passed into the lexicon whole. They are readily recognizable. Does anyone really have a corner on the market for using these phrases and ideas??
I am a Clinton fan. That said, I don't believe in demonizing someone because they thought to use a well-turned phrase before I did.
I am fortunate in that many such eloquent phrases just stick in my head, velcro-like. I use them frequently saying "I heard this somewhere". Some I believe I invented. Did I? We will never know because I am not now, nor do I ever plan to be, a candidate for public office. If drafted, I will not run. If elected, I will not serve.
bz
Ted:
ReplyDeleteOf course some of those words are Thomas Jefferson's in the Declaration of Independence, a document that many current politicians don't seem very
familiar with.
You might want to run the fuller quote because it explains why we have to have the First Amendment.
We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,that among these rights are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness--that to secure these rights governments are instituted among men deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.
It's the last 10 words that are crucial.
Thanks, all, for your defense of words and their power. I have no complaint whatsoever with Barack Obama's eloquence. Indeed, I thank God for a little erudition and delivery skills after the last eight years of mumbles and malaprops. And as much as I value Hillary Clinton's obvious brains and experience, she's not much of a speaker.
ReplyDeleteSomeone once said (and I don't remember who--so sue me!), "After the first artist, only the copyist."
If Obama had to borrow some words, at least they were good ones.
TP