I hear a lot of people talk about what a great orator President Obama is. Regardless of how little I agree with his ideology, I do agree that he's a pretty good speaker. However, when I reflect upon the fact that he has an army of speechwriters and an arsenal of teleprompters, a little bit of the Barackian luster is lost.
I have been reading a book by Paul Johnson on American history. The revolutionary Patrick Henry is well known for his exclamation, "Give me liberty or give me death!", but I never knew the context of this little phrase. Use your imagination to picture this gem of theatrics:
"He proposed to the burgesses that Virginia should raise a militia and be ready to do battle. What was Virginia waiting for? Massachusetts was fighting. 'Our brethren are already in the field. Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have?'
Then Henry got to his knees, in the posture of a manacled slave, intoning in a low and rising voice: 'Is life so dear, our peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God!'
He then bent to the earth with his hands still crossed, for a few seconds, and suddenly sprang to his feet, shouting, 'GIVE ME LIBERTY!' and flung wide his arms, paused, lowered his arms, clenched his right hand as if holding a dagger at his breast, and said in sepulchral tones: 'Or give me death!'
He then beat his breast, with his hand holding the imaginary dagger. There was silence, broken by a man listening at the open window, who shouted: 'Let me be buried on this spot!' Henry had made his point."
Teleprompters make for interesting speeches, I guess, but not nearly as interesting as pretending to stab yourself.
