Political Forecast

Intriguing speech from this President. Liberal foreign policy if I ever saw one. I would think it revisionist history for Iraq (we went to end tyranny), but the language was so expansive and inclusive, it has to be more.

PROS:

• He wore a blue tie. Thank merciful God. This President functions far better in a blue tie, and the statesman’s color has to come in a speech exclusively on Foreign Policy.
• There are no mentions in the text of “terrorism” or “terror”, yet a head nod to the Koran as a defining American text. Beating expectations and conventional wisdom, perhaps?
• It breaks his theme of aggressive rhetoric. The freedom-as-a-fire metaphor was about as violent as it got. It’s as if Freedom and Liberty will come as a mighty wave without war. Wouldn’t that be beautiful?
• Best written speech he’s ever delivered. Best performance on the stump ever. Definately the most Presidential he’s ever been.

CONS:

• I was promised the “ownership society” for the second time. I was denied for the second time. Granted, there was a tiny mention of it in the only domestic paragraph, but if Karl Rove really wants to put the phrase on par with the New Deal and the Great Society, POTUS has got to say it and connect it to anything. (Key to our success as citizens of the world is an ownership in society, one where people not only own their homes and futures, but have a stake in their government and control over their actions. [FREEDOM AND LIBERTY STUFF HERE])
• What happened to “You know where I stand”?
• He didn’t finish or open strongly. And that’s what prevents the speech from being eternal. Today, I couldn’t get JFK’s inaug closing out of my head: “With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love; asking His blessing and His help but knowing that, here on Earth, God’s work must truly be our own.” Yes I did type that from memory. That is what defines the speech, and a Liberty Bell and custom doesn’t do it.