October 27, 2010
FRIDAY THE RABBI QUACKED LIKE A DUCK:
How Obama Lost His Magic (and How He Can Get It Back) (Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, 10/26/10, AOL News)
The real story of campaign 2010 is how boring Obama has become.Obama, who had never run anything except a campaign in his entire life, performed an almost unprecedented conjuring act in 2008, getting the electorate to embrace him regardless of the utter absence of managerial skills.
They believed not necessarily in Obama's capacity to fix America's transient problems but in his ability to focus us on more eternal, upbeat themes like hope, faith and the future. Yet, this time his very presence seems irritating. A man whose oratory lifted him to earth's highest office can't seem to deliver a single uplifting speech.
As a connoisseur of great oratory, I used to love hearing Obama's staccato delivery, perfect timing and mesmeric self-confidence -- the mark of any great speaker -- even as I disagreed with him on many of the issues. But Obama's speeches have now become insufferable, devoid of charisma and personal magnetism.
Just as you aren't actually a chicken during the time a hypnotist has you mesmerized, nor was the UR a great orator while you were bamboozled.
