Well I am no political expert, you know, but I noticed this thing about Obama's acceptance speech that I thought was interesting. It seemed like his speech had kind of two climactic moments, both of which were encapsulated in a three-word phrase. About halfway through it was "we'll get there," and then at the end it was "yes we can."
"We'll get there" is my favorite. First off, we never know quite exactly where "there" is. So that's kind of nice, because it involves the listener in inventing their own there. Also, it is such a flexible phrase, to be found in exasperation by some parents to some kids in the back seat, in the desperate promise of a repentant lover, reassuringly from teacher to baffled student, in resignation by the leader of a slow-moving group, or even sidesteppingly by a slacker who would rather defer blame for a later day than face it head on.
"Yes we can" is similar in its vagueness and its catch-all quality: the go-to retort to "No you can't," the simple proclamation of simple entitlement, the mantra of the little engine that could and I'd imagine the hope-against-hope mantra of plenty of little engines that couldn't, the gambit of the motivational speaker, even the rallying cry of the willfully apathetic.
I like to imagine a Venn diagram for who the "we" (and its compadre the "they") is in both of these phrases. The way Obama talks makes the "we" region comparatively huge, and the election results are evidence enough that the majority of voting Americans reside there in "we"-land. But then I think maybe the most clever line of the speech puts a bigger bubble around "we" and "they": "And for those who did not vote for me I will still be your president." First off, this change of voice turns the grammatical subjects "we" and "they" into the political subjects "us" and "them" (grammatically, Obama becomes the subject, his 'subjects' become the object). Then by subsuming both under the presidency, Obama is able to say at the same time 'I will still listen to you,' but also 'you better do what I say because I'm the motherfuckin' president and I'm takin' ya there like it or not!' Boo-ya!
Figure 12: Some Political Topology
Soundtrack for this post generously provided by:
6 comments:
Dude, have you ever watched an Obama speech while listening to Dark Side of the Moon?
Also, I like your thesis.
Si, su puede.
US us us us us
and
THEM them them them them
the floyd is brilliant - almost as brilliant as obama's ability to connect with the real people. if it is a political ploy, he is a mad genius.
i generally never get swept up in politico talk, but he had me riveted. it is the first time in my life i actually feel patriotic and like democracy is not a complete sham.
The "we'll get there" phrase was a reference, possibly, to Martin Luther King's "I've been to the Mountain Top" speech (http://www.afscme.org/about/1549.cfm). King delivered it the day before he was assassinated, and famously says in it, "I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land."
So I guess I'm saying that the 'there' that Obama is referring to is maybe the (unknown) promised land. Possibly. xx
I felt about this election much the same way I feel about the Detroit Red Wings facing off against the Chicago Blackhawks in the Winter Classic this New Years: One team I hate with blind intensity, the other I strongly dislike with blind moderation.
Also, I don't like the way Obama refers to us as "you people."
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