Tigermike 3,055 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 What Obama Left Out By WILLIAM KRISTOL Published: June 2, 2008 Commencement speeches are hard. I gave one at a college about seven years ago. I labored over it, consulting orations from years past, writing and rewriting drafts. I ended up with remarks that struck me  even while I delivered them  as banal and platitudinous. Luckily, no one seemed to be paying much attention  and at least I kept it short. I don’t think I did too much damage to the enjoyment of the day by the graduating students and their parents. Since then, whenever I look at the annual roundup of commencement addresses, I can’t help but admire those who can pull off this mode of speechifying. Barack Obama, you won’t be surprised to learn, can pull it off. He spoke on the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Conn., pinch-hitting for Senator Ted Kennedy, on the theme of service to our country. The speech was skillfully crafted and well delivered, the grace notes were graceful, and the exhortations to public service seemed heartfelt but not cloying. The speech was a success. It’s also revealing  about Obama’s view of himself and of public service. Obama chooses to introduce the notion of public service from an autobiographical point of view. In college, he explains, “I began to notice a world beyond myself.†So while his friends were seeking jobs on Wall Street, he applied for jobs as a grass-roots activist. And one day, a group of churches in Chicago offered him a job as a community organizer for “$12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car.†“And I said yes.†Those four words form their own paragraph in the prepared text. Obama wants us to be impressed by the drama of his spurning the big bucks, by his bold acceptance of such a pittance of money in order that he could do good. Leave aside the fact that two years elapsed between Obama’s graduation from Columbia in 1983 and his heading off to Chicago in 1985. Dramatic foreshortening is, after all, sometimes necessary. And leave aside whether $14,000 in 1985 was really such a shockingly low salary for someone recently out of college  in inflation-adjusted dollars, it’s about what we pay entry-level editorial assistants today at The Weekly Standard. Obama’s point is that he went on to do good in Chicago  and that the college graduates to whom he’s speaking should follow in his exemplary footsteps. Of course, most politicians do admire themselves and their excellent careers. So perhaps one shouldn’t make too much of Obama’s sin of self-regard. More striking is Obama’s sin of omission. In the rest of the speech, he goes on to detail  at some length  the “so many ways to serve†that are available “at this defining moment in our history.†There’s the Peace Corps, there’s renewable energy, there’s education, there’s poverty  there are all kinds of causes you can take up “should you take the path of service.†But there’s one obvious path of service Obama doesn’t recommend  or even mention: military service. He does mention war twice: “At a time of war, we need you to work for peace.†And, we face “big challenges like war and recession.†But there’s nothing about serving your country in uniform. It can’t be that the possibility of military service as an admirable form of public service didn’t occur to Obama. Only the day before, Obama had been squabbling with John McCain about veterans’ benefits. He said then, “Obviously I revere our soldiers and want to make sure they are being treated with honor and respect.†And the day after the Wesleyan commencement, Obama was in New Mexico, where he read an eloquent and appropriate Memorial Day tribute to our fallen soldiers. But at an elite Northeastern college campus, Obama obviously felt no need to disturb the placid atmosphere of easy self-congratulation. He felt no need to remind students of a different kind of public service  one that entails more risks than community organizing. He felt no need to tell the graduating seniors in the lovely groves of Middletown that they should be grateful to their peers who were far away facing dangers on behalf of their country. Nor did Obama choose to mention all those college graduates who are now entering the military, either for a tour of duty or as a career, in order to serve their country. He certainly felt no impulse to wonder whether the nation wouldn’t be better off if R.O.T.C. were more widely and easily available on elite college campuses. Obama failed to challenge  even gently  what he must have assumed would be the prejudices of much of his audience and indulged in a soft patriotism of low expectations. Was this a public service? NY Times Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arnaldoabru 11 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 Interesting attack on Obama considering Mr. Kristol has never sacrificed to serve in this Nations military.He has no problem though, sending them off to figt a bogus war in which over 4,000 have died. Mr Kristol also did not check his facts on his op-ed piece in the NYT article on March 17,2008 attacking Obama.He had to retract "his error". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Justin5 20 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WinCrimson 61 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. +1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,055 Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 Interesting attack on Obama considering Mr. Kristol has never sacrificed to serve in this Nations military.He has no problem though, sending them off to figt a bogus war in which over 4,000 have died. Thanks for playing. I told a friend that would be the way the leftist would attack this piece. Thanks for playing, arnold. Mr Kristol also did not check his facts on his op-ed piece in the NYT article on March 17,2008 attacking Obama.He had to retract "his error". Got a link for that? Al get your ass to work. In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. Yeah but Obama still hasn't distanced himself from Ayres. Is there no room left under the bus? Nor has he gone to Iraq. Once again Justin tries deflection as a defense of Obama. He keeps your ass busy doesn't he? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autigeremt 6,717 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. +1 -20 based on the fact that the spin machine is in full force here! I DID sacrifice years of my life to MY country! I STILL DO!!!! I also work for the greatest university in the nation (I believe it to be....that's all I need) for the greatest generations to follow. Mr. Kristol is making a valid point! It's not that Obama did a poor job with his speech, it's the FACT that he put aside the United States Military over the other "civic" contributions people can make. I'm no Kristol fan, because he too can drink a lot of koolaid. Another TYPICAL POLITICIAN who ONLY talks what people WANT to hear. Shame! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auburn85 432 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 with all of the -1 and +2 comments of late, it makes me think i'm reading comments on youtube Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUTiger1 0 Posted June 2, 2008 Share Posted June 2, 2008 In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. +1 -20 based on the fact that the spin machine is in full force here! I DID sacrifice years of my life to MY country! I STILL DO!!!! I also work for the greatest university in the nation (I believe it to be....that's all I need) for the greatest generations to follow. Mr. Kristol is making a valid point! It's not that Obama did a poor job with his speech, it's the FACT that he put aside the United States Military over the other "civic" contributions people can make. I'm no Kristol fan, because he too can drink a lot of koolaid. Another TYPICAL POLITICIAN who ONLY talks what people WANT to hear. Shame! It was kind of hard to miss that point I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigermike 3,055 Posted June 2, 2008 Author Share Posted June 2, 2008 In McCain's most recent speech, he didn't mention stopping dog fighting. Is McCain PRO dog-fighting?!?! More on this story as it develops. +1 -20 based on the fact that the spin machine is in full force here! I DID sacrifice years of my life to MY country! I STILL DO!!!! I also work for the greatest university in the nation (I believe it to be....that's all I need) for the greatest generations to follow. Mr. Kristol is making a valid point! It's not that Obama did a poor job with his speech, it's the FACT that he put aside the United States Military over the other "civic" contributions people can make. I'm no Kristol fan, because he too can drink a lot of koolaid. Another TYPICAL POLITICIAN who ONLY talks what people WANT to hear. Shame! It was kind of hard to miss that point I thought. Unless you were to immediately jump into attack and deflection mode. And it isn't surprising that the point of the article went over the heads of the dims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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