Cathryn (formerly catslash) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-01-04 03:45 pm
remindmeofthe) wrote2008-01-04 03:45 pm
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So I was trying to explain to my roommate, Donna, about the awesomeness of Obama's victory speech last night. "He sounds like Martin Luther King!* It's fourteen minutes long and I thought I'd get bored like five seconds in, but I wasn't! I wanted to go out and vote for him like three times RIGHT NOW!"
Donna, who volunteers as a poll worker every November, just grinned and said, "You know where I work. We might be able to arrange that."
I share this story because, after having bitched about her a little while ago, I thought it only fair to also show her sense of humor.
*(Yes, I know this seems both hyperbolic and racially convenient, but here's the thing - his vocal patterns in the beginning of the speech actually did remind me of King's with "I have a dream." And even after that faded out, he still had the kind of charisma, passion, timing, and way with words that King had. I mean, I repeat: the guy held ME spellbound for fourteen minutes. With a political speech. This is a new record. I think the last record for holding me spellbound with a political speech was thirty-seven seconds. Obama came to speak in Maine a couple of months ago, and I am deeply, profoundly sorry that I missed it. If he can have that sort of effect in a little YouTube square, I can just imagine how electric a speaker he must be in person. Part of me was in thrall to his sheer presence, and the other part of me - the part that sits back and analyzes everything I'm reading or watching because of my fascination with language - was deeply impressed by how deft a speech it was. The man knows exactly what he is doing and how to do it. I think we should all be grateful that he is using his powers for good.)
Donna, who volunteers as a poll worker every November, just grinned and said, "You know where I work. We might be able to arrange that."
I share this story because, after having bitched about her a little while ago, I thought it only fair to also show her sense of humor.
*(Yes, I know this seems both hyperbolic and racially convenient, but here's the thing - his vocal patterns in the beginning of the speech actually did remind me of King's with "I have a dream." And even after that faded out, he still had the kind of charisma, passion, timing, and way with words that King had. I mean, I repeat: the guy held ME spellbound for fourteen minutes. With a political speech. This is a new record. I think the last record for holding me spellbound with a political speech was thirty-seven seconds. Obama came to speak in Maine a couple of months ago, and I am deeply, profoundly sorry that I missed it. If he can have that sort of effect in a little YouTube square, I can just imagine how electric a speaker he must be in person. Part of me was in thrall to his sheer presence, and the other part of me - the part that sits back and analyzes everything I'm reading or watching because of my fascination with language - was deeply impressed by how deft a speech it was. The man knows exactly what he is doing and how to do it. I think we should all be grateful that he is using his powers for good.)
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All that "thinking too hard about American culture and race at 5 AM" aside, dude. Yeah. Obama was totally MLK Jr.-esq in that speech and I loved it. He also preaches the same "we should all be one people, one country" rhetoric as MLK Jr. did, which is why I'm putting my trust into him, because I can only hope that he'll bring in some of the King's later practices of free health care for every child and free lunches, etc. etc. all the sort of stuff the Black Panthers did (besides terrorize whitefolk, which is how most people remember the Black Panthers negatively).