President Obama's farewell speech soared, towered, dragged. True, it was longer than Reagan's, Clinton's and GWB's speeches combined. If it got any longer it would have qualified as a third term. I hope he doesn't ask for anything:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I do have one final ask of you as your president. The same thing I asked when you took a chance on me eight years ago. I am asking you to believe not in my ability to bring about change but in yours.
Yes, we can. Yes, we did. Yes, we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It was a moving speech and the audience response equally moving.
So, if the Obama presidency were a film, this speech would be the climax. All that's missing is the horse, the sunset, the rousing closing music as the title card reads "The End" -- perhaps in cursive. It was in short meaningful for millions, but not for me because I'm a jerk. And I've gotten used to such theatrics. And I'm cynical about the waves of impassioned sentiment. Part of the skepticism is due to the wide gap between how a person talks one-on-one and how they speak before a crowd. Compare the two and you realize how the latter relies on manipulation.
Soaring rhetoric lets you forget about the gaps in truth. But these days, I want words to matter more than emotions, which may be why Trump is either seen as refreshingly real or coarse and rough. He is the Obama opposite. When he speaks before crowds, it's pretty much how he talks. Blunt, raw, messy, but louder. Let's compare this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I leave this stage tonight even more optimistic about this country than when we started. Because I know our work has not only helped so many Americans, it has inspired so many Americans.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
To this:
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Go ahead.
JIM ACOSTA, CNN: Sir, can you state categorically --
TRUMP: Quiet. Quiet.
ACOSTA: Mr. President-elect --
TRUMP: Go ahead. She's asking a question. Don't be rude.
ACOSTA: Mr. President-elect, can you give us a --
TRUMP: Don't be rude.
ACOSTA: -- for attacking us. Can you give us a question?
TRUMP: Don't be rude. You're not -- I'm not going to give you a question.
ACOSTA: Can you state --
TRUMP: You are fake news.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
So yes, the next four years are definitely going to be different. You might not get a thrill up your let, but haven't we had enough of that already?
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