Barack Obama!

sam76 said:

Clinton Is Said to Accept Offer of Secretary of State Position

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/22/us/politics/22obama.html?_r=1&hp

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Mrs. Clinton came to her decision after additional discussion with President-elect Barack Obama about the nature of her role and his plans for foreign policy, said one of the confidants, who insisted on anonymity to discuss the situation.

Mr. Obama’s office told reporters on Thursday that the nomination is “on track” but this is the first word from the Clinton camp that she has decided.

...
Senior Obama advisers said Friday morning that the offer had not been formally accepted and no announcement would be made until after Thanksgiving. [fourth Thursday of Nov = 27 Nov this year]

Mrs. Clinton’s spokesman, Philippe Reines, issued a statement Friday afternoon cautioning that the nomination was not final. “We’re still in discussions, which are very much on track,” Mr. Reines said. “Any reports beyond that are premature.”

Mr. Obama and Mrs. Clinton fought the most competitive Democratic nomination battle in modern times, one that polarized their party for months and left bitterness in both camps. .. etc

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Mrs. Clinton would bring a distinctive background to the State Department. As first lady, she traveled the world for eight years, visiting more than 80 countries, not only meeting with foreign leaders but also villages, clinics and other remote areas that rarely get on a president’s itinerary. Mr. Obama during the primaries belittled that experience as little more than having tea and pointed to schedules showing many ceremonial events on those trips.

But more than any first lady before her, Mrs. Clinton delved deep into particular policy issues in the international arena, from women’s rights to microlending to alleviate poverty. As a senator for the last eight years, she served on the Armed Services Committee and continued her interest in foreign affairs.

She and Mr. Obama agree on the broad outlines of a new foreign policy for the post-Bush era, but they disagreed sharply in several crucial areas, particularly over how to deal with Iran and Pakistan. She characterized Mr. Obama as naïve in his view of those two countries, while he criticized her judgment for going along with Mr. Bush on the war in Iraq at first.

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2020hindsight said:

Seem to recall hearing that the effect (if not the intent ) of George W Bush appointing Colin Powell to Secretary of State was to neutralise him as a potential threat at the next election.

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Calliope said:

Its the old story. It's better to have your opponent inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.

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Hillary at State? Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer
By Andrea Tantaros
Republican Political Commentator/Foxnews.com Contributor

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton? That’s what reports are saying. According to officials, Obama has narrowed the possibilities for Secretary of State, and Senator Hillary Clinton is among those being strongly considered. Some officials even call her the favorite.

President-elect Barack Obama offering Sen. Clinton the position of Secretary of State exemplifies the notion of keeping your friends close and your enemies closer. The last thing Barack Obama wants is a supercharged Hillary Clinton potentially causing trouble in the Senate.

If she accepts the job, she’s shackled to his administration, which is smart if he wants to fend off attacks from the Clintons in 2012 ”” a win for Obama and Democratic Party unity. If she doesn’t accept the job she looks like a sore loser, and could be perceived as unwilling to cooperate.

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Doris said:

Well I haven't heard any whispers about what role McCain could have in the new year. Thankfully!

The critics are out on limbs complaining that Obama promised change and he's recycling Clinton's people.

But hey... There were good people in the rank and file of the DEMOCRATS eight years ago.
Just because they have held positions with Clinton does not mean there is no change.
Appointees will have new roles and must conduct themselves according to Obama's 'change'.
Out with old tactics not talented people!

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noirua said:

Don't think it really matters now as Obama looks to be going for recovery or bust. Good luck to him - & Doris, 2020, Julia and co.

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The new Cicero
Barack Obama's speeches are much admired and endlessly analysed, but, says Charlotte Higgins, one of their most interesting aspects is the enormous debt they owe to the oratory of the Romans

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basilio said:

Ever wondered why Obamas speeches sounded so good? Turns out much of the quality of his speech writing comes from the ancient Romans. There is an excellent story examining the way Obama constructs his speeches and comparisons with the styles developed in ancient Rome.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/26/barack-obama-usa1

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During the Roman republic (and in ancient Athens) politics was oratory. In Athens, questions such as whether or not to declare war on an enemy state were decided by the entire electorate (or however many bothered to turn up) in open debate. Oratory was the supreme political skill, on whose mastery power depended. Unsurprisingly, then, oratory was highly organised and rigorously analysed. The Greeks and Romans, in short, knew all the rhetorical tricks, and they put a name to most of them.

It turns out that Obama knows them, too. One of the best known of Cicero's techniques is his use of series of three to emphasise points: the tricolon. (The most enduring example of a Latin tricolon is not Cicero's, but Caesar's "Veni, vidi, vici" - I came, I saw, I conquered.) Obama uses tricola freely. Here's an example: "Tonight, we gather to affirm the greatness of our nation, not because of the height of our skyscrapers, or the power of our military, or the size of our economy ..." In this passage, from the 2004 Democratic convention speech, Obama is also using the technique of "praeteritio" - drawing attention to a subject by not discussing it. (He is discounting the height of America's skyscrapers etc, but in so doing reminds us of their importance.)

One of my favourites among Obama's tricks was his use of the phrase "a young preacher from Georgia", when accepting the Democratic nomination this August; he did not name Martin Luther King. The term for the technique is "antonomasia". One example from Cicero is the way he refers to Phoenix, Achilles' mentor in the Iliad, as "senior magister" - "the aged teacher". In both cases, it sets up an intimacy between speaker and audience, the flattering idea that we all know what we are talking about without need for further exposition. It humanises the character - King was just an ordinary young man, once. Referring to Georgia by name localises the reference - Obama likes to use the specifics to American place to ground the winged sweep of his rhetoric - just as in his November 4 speech: "Our campaign ... began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston", which, of course, is also another tricolon.

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Obama entered politics without family backing (compare Clinton) or a military record (compare John McCain). Roman tradition dictated you had both. The compensatory talent Obama shares with Cicero... is a skill at "setting up a genealogy of forebears - not biological forebears but intellectual forebears. For Cicero it was Licinius Crassus, Scipio Aemilianus and Cato the Elder. For Obama it is Lincoln, Roosevelt and King."

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Obama's oratory conforms to the tripartite ideal laid down by Aristotle, who stated that good rhetoric should consist of pathos, logos and ethos - emotion, argument and character. It is in the projection of ethos that Obama particularly excels. Take this resounding passage: "I am the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas. I was raised with the help of a white grandfather who survived a Depression to serve in Patton's army during World War II and a white grandmother who worked on a bomber assembly line at Fort Leavenworth while he was overseas. I've gone to some of the best schools in America and lived in one of the world's poorest nations." He manages to convey the sense that not only can he revive the American dream, but that he personally embodies - actually, in some sense, is - the American dream.

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Obama's favourite tricks of the trade, it appears, are the related anaphora and epiphora. Anaphora is the repetition of a phrase at the start of a sentence. Again, from November 4: "It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools ... It's the answer spoken by young and old ... It's the answer ..." Epiphora does the same, but at the end of a sentence. From the same speech (yet another tricolon): "She lives to see them stand out and speak up and reach for the ballot. Yes we can." The phrase "Yes we can" completes the next five paragraphs.

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basilio said:

Ever wondered why Obamas speeches sounded so good? Turns out much of the quality of his speech writing comes from the ancient Romans. There is an excellent story examining the way Obama constructs his speeches and comparisons with the styles developed in ancient Rome.

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gav said:

Did the ancient Romans write speeches like this? :

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Fortune favours the bold, Fortune favours the brave, Fortune helps the brave , and Fortune favours the strong are common translations of the famous and often-quoted ancient Latin proverb "Fortes fortuna adiuvat".

The phrase means that Fortuna, the Goddess of luck, is more likely to help those that take risks, take action, and develop their skills proactively. It was first written by Terence, who lived in the second century BC, in his play "Phormio" [1], but it has been quoted many times since. The phrase is often associated with Virgil's epic poem, the Aeneid, appearing in book 10 line 284, in the slightly different form "audentis fortuna iuvat." [2]

The Roman consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla was said to believe in the influence of the goddess Fortune in his life. He was a consummate risk-taker, achieving martial distinction by taking risks on the battlefield such as wearing disguises and living among the enemy. He was also the first of the great Republican Romans to march upon Rome- a great taboo, but one which cemented his power and influence.

Julius Caesar also transformed his fortunes when he marched on Rome, with the famous words alea jacta est (the die is cast) as he crossed the Rubicon river. The utterance was a commitment of his fate to Fortune. While Caesar was a thorough and professional soldier, many of his greatest victories were achieved by taking bold risks which often exposed him and his troops to great danger, but often resulted in memorable victories.

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basilio said:

Ever wondered why Obamas speeches sounded so good? ........the styles developed in ancient Rome.

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Garpal Gumnut said:

Obama has a crowd of old dry hasbeens like Clinton and Biden on his team.

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Garpal Gumnut said:

Thank g he's got a blackberry to keep him in touch with reality in 2009.

gg

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2020hindsight said:

As I've said before Gav, (you are proving pretty obstinate and/or intolerant of slips of the tongue on this one) ... but if you are talking contiguous states, then he had been to 47 ( not 57). Now that's hardly a hanging offence, lol.

Hey , if you are so clever as to never make a slip of the tongue whilst making an "aside" comment - of absolutely no significance - and wish to attract great wit and wisdom to yourself by pointing this out .. .then maybe we can expect to see you running for President in 2012

Alternatively we can treat your post as (also) having no significance.

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Doris said:

Hear hear!

If he'd listened to the words of the man who'd had three hours sleep a night for the previous few weeks - with his punishing schedule... and knew that there were 50 states - 'one to go' - he would have subtracted the two that Barack exempted and realized and respected his intention.

But when a mere male is as perfect as BHO it behoves a mere bully to find fault.

This is the see-saw syndrome:
The other person is up so you try to put him down hoping you will rise in stature.
Get a life. Find a slippery slide, of your own, to play with.

Better still, look at Barack as a role model for his genius in having lived his life to be the man he is today.

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• Improve US foreign policy in how it affects every one of us
  
• Improve America's reputation (I think we all "want" to like the US, something that was not possible under the previous cabal of clowns and criminals)
  
• Correct the financial mal-model currently wreaking havoc on the world economy
  
• Prevent an almost inevitable economic war of some description
  
• Extract the west from the ludicrous military incursions currently embroiled in

wayneL said:

... Look, it's time to stop all the tribalistic team play. It's now time, whether a supporter of Obama or not, to sit back and watch what this man does ...

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