John McWhorter on Elvin Lim’s The Anti-Intellectual Presidency: The Decline of Presidential Rhetoric from George Washington to George W. Bush:
“…[This] is not one more rant about the limited cognitive abilities of George W. Bush but a brisk, methodical deconstruction of ‘the relentless simplification of presidential rhetoric in the last two centuries and the increasing substitution of arguments with applause-rendering platitudes, partisan punch lines and emotional and human interest appeals.’ “
via FIRST THINGS: A Journal of Religion, Culture, and Public Life
Also:
- Charlotte Higgins says one of the most interesting aspects of Barack Obama’s speeches is the enormous debt they owe to the oratory of the Romans
- It depends what ‘worst’ means
- The Lamest of All Possible Ducks
- Dumbing Down The Presidency
- Dionne: ‘Obama’s Bush Doctrine.’
Depressing, but interesting. Thanks.
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