Comments on: Obama’s Speech In Germany

By: Cult of personality « Conservative Liberal

Cult of personality « Conservative Liberal — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 03:53:55 +0000

[...] acceptance speech at a stadium instead of the site of the Democratic Party Convention. Finally, there was this speech in Germany. And, to top it off, his statement about never having any doubts. Is it just me, or is there a [...]

By: StockBoySF

StockBoySF — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 06:07:25 +0000

I think it was an excellent speech, but Obama has done better.

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:27:10 +0000

"quick & lazy way"

And effete. It's commonplace now to harden and de-voice some consonants. Z becomes S; D becomes T; V becomes F, G becomes K ("dot-ork" is quite common now as an Internet address) and so on.

It's not even grammar, but diction.

As is the case with the over-emphassssissssssss on S that outdoes anything George Bush has ever done to the English language, or all the stupid smacking and "ums" that are like children's speech, or all the "uhhhh"s that we're struck by thanks to an apparent desire to say something, anything rather than be silent until one has something of value to say before speaking. (Listen to C-SPAN sometime as well as talk radio shows and [gag] interviews with politicians or athletes.)

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 19:23:23 +0000

“typical phonetic pronunciation perspective”

Yes, *** OBVIOUSLY ***. Don't people listen to the airwaves at all or pay attention to what they are listening to? [sigh]

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 17:29:09 +0000

I think DLS was spelling world as “worl-t” from a typical phonetic pronunciation perspective (try saying that 3 times fast!). When many folks say “world” in the rather quick & lazy way, it sounds like “worl-t” since not enough emphasis is given to the last consonant (there are many words that people tend to do this on). No, I'm not an English teacher but grammar has always been a bit of a hobby.

By: SteveK

SteveK — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:54:22 +0000

"worl-t", eh?

"FoxNews", eh?

"Readers on the thread where I did this (who are presumed to be reading other threads, too, including this one) shouldn't draw any mistaken conclusions from my use of Fox to provide the speech transcript.", eh?

O.K. DLS BUT "worl-t" NEVER appeared in Obama's Speech transcripts at...

CNN OR The Washington Times OR The International Herald Tribune

Actually the word "worl-t" NEVER appeared in ANY of the Google Search for "Obama german speech text" that I read...

Poor reporting by everyone except FOX I guess.

**** UPDATE ***

Checked FOX News and they spell it "World", too. Where DLS came up with "Worl-t" is unknown...

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:26:43 +0000

And again, this was a good speech, but no miracle. See transcript link above.

As I wrote earlier, elsewhere, it's Obama who is slowly working to dispel the Messiah complex so many liberals have with him. For example, he has surprised or disappointed some “progressives” with one or two decisions and statements he has made (left-wing Democrats and liberals — “progressives” — were the core and initial source of support for Obama, before Super Tuesday). With this speech he did not make it a “sermon” but it addressed all the right things. The big thing in addition to being the world's anti-Bush PC darling is that Obama is not making any big mistakes.

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:22:27 +0000

I saw the transcript of Obama's speech first on CNN yesterday. Today, when trying to retrieve the transcript quickly for link-posting I had to settle for Fox, which came up on my search while CNN didn't. Readers on the thread where I did this (who are presumed to be reading other threads, too, including this one) shouldn't draw any mistaken conclusions from my use of Fox to provide the speech transcript.

By: thePajamaPundit

thePajamaPundit — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:05:26 +0000

...who proudly say they don’t get their political news from biased newspapers anymore — but from talk-radio and from talking-head cable political shows`which they say keeps them well-informed.

You've just described my father-in-law. The guy smears every news outlet as 'liberal' and refuses to watch any coverage except for that of Fox News, which he describes as 'fair and balanced'.

When will people realize that you can't watch or read your news from only one source? When will people like my father-in-law come to terms with the fact that you need to be well-informed and well-read -- and you have to come to your own conclusions?

By: elrod

elrod — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 14:55:23 +0000

Poll numbers reflect American concerns over the economy more than anything else. For a month now, Obama has talked about culture, foreign affairs and national security. He had to do this, but it wasn't going to help in the SHORT TERM in polls.

We'll see next week when he gets back to the economy and gas prices again if Obama jumps in polls.

By: DLS

DLS — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:53:42 +0000

There was some gushing on lefty sites, not as much as I expected, though.

I'd rate the speech as 3 to 4 stars on a scale of five. It didn't qualify as a "sermon."

He covered all the typical talking points, and even sounded like the smarm queens of both sexes in the media here in the States by hardening the "D" and saying "worl-t" instead of "world," for example.

Here's the transcript from one of the sites providing it.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/07/24/raw-dat...

By: JSpencer

JSpencer — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:43:25 +0000

“Many people are more interested in reaffirming beliefs rather than testing and perhaps re-evaluating them.”

Well said Joe. Re-evaluating our beliefs can be a genuine challenge at times, but is a necessary one if we want to be considered independent thinkers.

By: Jazz

Jazz — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:06:32 +0000

There's a poll out about the trip befoe the trip is over?
How does that work?

Gallup does a daily which has become increasingly worthless as it goes.. not because they aren't getting a real set of numbers every day, but the fact that they swing all over a fairly large margin of error, and then we all jump on those numbers as "proof" that "x event" of the day caused that reaction in the polls. Of course, in reality, a large number of Americans who don't spend their days dwelling in blog chat rooms and watching political TV, probably had no idea that "x event" even happened when they answered the poll.

By: test » Blog Archive » Obama’s Speech In Germany

test » Blog Archive » Obama’s Speech In Germany — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 09:45:43 +0000

[...] Greg Sargent wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBarack Obama’s speech in Germany. Was it cravenly political? A campaign document? Was it reminiscent of JFK’s or Ronald Reagan’s speeches from Berlin, or was it clearly anchored in a different time and generation? … Read the rest of this great post here [...]

By: runasim

runasim — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 08:07:33 +0000

There's a poll out about the trip befoe the trip is over?
How does that work?

When they jump in so early, I think these polls drive opinion more than reflect it.
I wish someone would analyze the effect of polling every 5 seconds. I think that was a factor in the primaries.

By: runasim

runasim — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 07:53:58 +0000

It was a masterful speech, considering the tightrope he had to walk while making it
He couldn't talk like an elected world leader, yet he needed to make an impression. He had to be humble, while delivering his inspirational message for the future. He was proposing that the US would listen as well as talk, while he was calling on Europe to do more in Afghnaistan.
It was tricky, but Obama did well.

A point of interest: the audience didn't need translaltion.
Take note, America.

By: My new WordPress MU Site » Blog Archive » Obama’s Speech In Germany

My new WordPress MU Site » Blog Archive » Obama’s Speech In Germany — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 06:12:43 +0000

[...] John Aravosis (DC) wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptBarack Obama’s speech in Germany. Was it cravenly political? A campaign document? Was it reminiscent of JFK’s or Ronald Reagan’s speeches from Berlin, or was it clearly anchored in a different time and generation? … [...]

By: vwcat

vwcat — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:44:31 +0000

Oh, Joe, don't worry about polls. If nothing gets through to you just let this. No bump is ever apparent for a couple weeks. The talking heads will be chatting about why Obama is not 20 points ahead and it is while he's still on the trip. Let it play out and see what happens in 2 or 3 weeks. YOu won't see anything until then.
And, it's summer. Alot of people are not paying that close attention and blowing off pollsters.
Then, take a look at Sabato's Crystal Ball and see what he says today.

By: vwcat

vwcat — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:41:46 +0000

Most of the reports have been good but, not gushing. They pretty much all say he gave a good and powerful speech but, it was not JFK or Reagan. It was rated well however.
I've seen some picking. Mostly the press worrying about whether the average folks will be turned off by cheering Berliners or was Obama being presumptious.
I feel neither is a worry.
It was a treat to watch and Obama was great. It was visually exciting to see. I thought it was a fabulous thing for Obama to try to do and he did very well.
I've read papers from England, english version of a couple german papers, ect.
My only worry is that the media will create a backlash for the overwhelmingly positive week Obama had in order to 'balance things' with McCain.
Create controversy.
sigh.
why can't they just let things be and go as they will without making candidates go through payback for doing things well.
Afterall, McCain goaded Obama, Obama trumped him with coming off very presidential (wasn't that the point) and dignified and up to the job.

By: Polimom

Polimom — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 03:23:55 +0000

Sad commentary on the state of affairs, Joe. Might go a long way toward explaining why the polls have not shifted in either direction for so long, though. Nothing new under the sun for folks who only listen to the various echo chambers.