February 12, 2009 – 2:28 pm
Personally, I think Obama is driving this nation full speed down a socialist death spiral. But you’ve got to admire, in a grim sort of way, the élan with which he’s doing it – an élan that was on megawatt display when he answered Major Garrett’s potentially embarrassing press conference question about Joe Biden. To […]
February 10, 2009 – 9:11 pm
I have to disagree with Ed’s interpretation of President Obama’s remarks on tax cuts. When you consider the president’s comment in context, it seems clear that when he says “tax cuts alone can’t solve our problems,” he isn’t suggesting that the prior administration didn’t spend enough, but rather that the monies were not spent on […]
February 6, 2009 – 4:27 pm
Keeping an audience’s attention is the top goal of every speaker. Be relevant, be engaging, be funny, be scary, be theatrical – the list of recommendations goes on and on. What doesn’t usually appear on the list: Unleash bugs on the audience. Bill Gates used this last technique to great effect in his talk at this […]
February 5, 2009 – 9:14 pm
One of speechwriters’ tools of the trade is economy of expression — not choosing a four-syllable word when a two-syllable one will do; not larding up a phrase with adverbs when a single tough verb would suffice; not taking an entire paragraph to express a sentence’s worth of ideas. (And some might say, not using […]
February 5, 2009 – 8:05 pm
The first job of a president is to establish strength — that he is a player to be reckoned with in the Washington power game. Different presidents have done this in different ways. Reagan’s handling of the air traffic controller strike is the most widely cited. But at some point, the forces in this city […]
February 3, 2009 – 12:11 pm
I’m a Hillary fan. Always have been, from her days at the White House to the Senate to the campaign trail to C Street — and her gracious remarks at her swearing-in ceremony reminded me of why. I appreciate the language she’s been using lately about smart power, smart people, and being smarter “about how […]
February 3, 2009 – 12:06 pm
The maiden speech is always a rite of passage for a newly elected parliamentarian. Witness Benjamin Disraeli, whose famous wit abandoned him as he stood up to give his first speech as a Member of Parliament. After stammering for a few minutes, his voice settled into a whisper. Shouted down, the future prime minister sat […]
January 31, 2009 – 6:35 pm
President Obama’s recent interview with Al Arabiya made global headlines, but I enjoyed this behind-the-scenes conversation with Al Arabiya’s Washington bureau chief Hisham Melham, describing what it was like to get a call from an NSC contact that morning, with the message, “I’m either going to make your day or ruin it: the president wants […]
January 29, 2009 – 11:01 am
By Max Atkinson, Guest Contributor The point I was making that Clark Judge has responded to was not that the UK had a better or older version of democracy than the USA, but that American claims to democratic superiority come across as a bit tactless to some of its closest allies. His suggestion that it […]
January 28, 2009 – 5:44 pm
Russian Czar president prime minister Valdimir Putin delivered a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos today and, God help me, I read it. One thing I learned is that Putin is a fan of banal metaphors. For instance: “Regardless of their political or economic system, all nations have found themselves in the same […]
January 26, 2009 – 2:00 pm
With the annual Alfalfa Club dinner just around the corner, Washington is entering the so-called “Silly Season” of political speechwriting, when humor prevails from the podium. For those interested in what it’s like to write for the Comedian-in-Chief, I commend Mark Katz’ Washington Monthly piece from January/February 2004, “Mirth of a Nation.” And for more […]
January 25, 2009 – 9:23 pm
For those of you who like your political messages in limited-verbiage poster form, Paste magazine offers this handy tool. It allows you to upload any photo (one you’ve taken or one you download) and turn it into one of those iconic blue and red offset prints from the Obama campaign. At left: My recent creation […]
January 25, 2009 – 3:38 pm
In an earlier post, I mentioned the trouble comedians were having coming up with a funny trope to use to poke fun at President Obama. The experts’ conclusion seems to be that Vice President Biden is the fattest target for humor in the Administration. Now we see the story developing further. It’s not just Biden, see, but Obama’s […]
January 23, 2009 – 12:06 pm
News that former Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain was dumped from Bank of America yesterday capped a remarkably tone-deaf period in Thain’s otherwise successful ascent of the Wall Street ladder. After being brought in to restore confidence in Merrill in 2007, and then hailed as a shareholder savior when he arranged Merrill’s sale to BofA […]
January 22, 2009 – 10:24 am
On day 1 (or 2, depending on how you count), President Obama took action on a few items that were regularly highlighted in his campaign rhetoric: Guantanamo, lobbying, and open government. He also made a decision that’s responsive to the times: freezing the pay of top White House employees. All of the orders send positive messages […]
