(From my Facebook page...)
The world is being led to the brink of nuclear war by a
commander-in-chief whose idea of diplomacy is tweeting that his
ICBM-armed opponent is short and fat. If we survive, and if we try to
restore our democratic republic, it may be useful to remember how real
presidents communicate. Here, from 'Commander in Chief,' https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780671663827 Eric Larrabee's excellent study of FDR at war, is a reminder of the importance of presidential utterance:
"A major presidential speech is far more than a speech. It is both a statement and an instrument of executive purpose. Its text will be minutely studied, both at home and abroad, for veiled and buried implications, for hints of omission and carefully calculated turns of phrase, which tell the practiced reader what he wants to know about the government's current cast of mind. Within the administration itself the speech may set a tone, discourage one faction or put another to work, lay down a line of action as firmly as though it were an executive order."
Our current president cannot be understood through "a major presidential speech." His official, scripted speech comprises blather, bluster, boilerplate and untruths. His ideas and the likelihood of his doing one thing or another, "discourag[ing] one faction or putting another to work," are more accurately reflected in the flow of his mendacious, boasting, self-pitying, ignorant, self-contradictory, vicious and inane tweets.
Larrabee describes the exceedingly careful construction of speeches meant to guide the nation's and the world's understanding of U.S. actions and intentions. Today, anxious audiences -- our citizens, our allies and our enemies, the billions of human beings whose prosperity and safety are affected by
The world is being led to the brink of nuclear war by a
commander-in-chief whose idea of diplomacy is tweeting that his
ICBM-armed opponent is short and fat. If we survive, and if we try to
restore our democratic republic, it may be useful to remember how real
presidents communicate. Here, from 'Commander in Chief,' https://www.indiebound.org/book/9780671663827 Eric Larrabee's excellent study of FDR at war, is a reminder of the importance of presidential utterance:"A major presidential speech is far more than a speech. It is both a statement and an instrument of executive purpose. Its text will be minutely studied, both at home and abroad, for veiled and buried implications, for hints of omission and carefully calculated turns of phrase, which tell the practiced reader what he wants to know about the government's current cast of mind. Within the administration itself the speech may set a tone, discourage one faction or put another to work, lay down a line of action as firmly as though it were an executive order."
Our current president cannot be understood through "a major presidential speech." His official, scripted speech comprises blather, bluster, boilerplate and untruths. His ideas and the likelihood of his doing one thing or another, "discourag[ing] one faction or putting another to work," are more accurately reflected in the flow of his mendacious, boasting, self-pitying, ignorant, self-contradictory, vicious and inane tweets.
Larrabee describes the exceedingly careful construction of speeches meant to guide the nation's and the world's understanding of U.S. actions and intentions. Today, anxious audiences -- our citizens, our allies and our enemies, the billions of human beings whose prosperity and safety are affected by
