DiscussMormonism.com

Disclaimer: in the 90s I was a Clinton hater. I believed some of the conspiracy theories about him and was stoked that he got impeached, and disappointed that the Senate failed to convict him of lying under oath about having sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinski. That was then. A lot has changed for me since then. I'm much more kindly disposed toward Bill Clinton now than I was then.

His DNC speech where he officially nominated Pres. Obama for re-election was magnificent. It was easily one of the best political speeches I've ever seen. It was almost unreal. Bill Clinton is certainly a political master, and one of the best political orators of the modern era.

I'm really worried that Bill Clinton's speech might have been so good that it upstages Pres. Obama's own speech tonight. That worry is mitigated, however, by Clinton's focus on setting the stage for Obama, for justifying and defending Obama, and for praising Obama.

But seriously. Go back and watch Mitt Romney's speech. Then watch Bill Clinton's speech. Clinton's speech is orders of magnitude better, just in terms of delivery, enthusiasm, feeling, and its ability to suck the audience in and hold them. It was a really long speech too, something like 45 minutes, but he pulled it off.

Here's C-Span's recording of the speech on Youtube.

Sincerity breeds eloquence. When I listen to Clinton, I’m convinced that he really believes what he’s saying. When I listen to Romney, I’m convinced that he really believes that what he’s saying will help him win the approval of whomever he is pandering to at the time.

Sethbag wrote:Disclaimer: in the 90s I was a Clinton hater. I believed some of the conspiracy theories about him and was stoked that he got impeached, and disappointed that the Senate failed to convict him of lying under oath about having sex with that woman, Ms. Lewinski. That was then. A lot has changed for me since then. I'm much more kindly disposed toward Bill Clinton now than I was then.

That's okay. Hell, in 1980 I had a Reagan bumper sticker and attended Reagan/Hatch rallies on the U of U campus. I got over that (as well as a bunch of other youthful beliefs) as I matured, thank Odin.

I'm really worried that Bill Clinton's speech might have been so good that it upstages Pres. Obama's own speech tonight.

You mean like Eastwood and his chair did to Romney?

I'm not too concerned. He's really a different type of speaker, I think. A convention attendee said last night that Clinton is clever prose while Obama is passionate poetry. That kind of made sense to me. It's a bit like one speaking more to the brain and the other more to the heart, if that doesn't sound too corny. Anyway, I trust it will be a natural three-day build, from Michelle to Bill to Barack. He just needs to do his own thing and not try to be Bill.

I have to say that I also liked Elizabeth Warren's speech yesterday. Here is how she closed it:

No, Governor Romney, corporations are not people. People have hearts, they have kids, they get jobs, they get sick, they cry, they dance. They live, they love, and they die. And that matters. That matters because we don’t run this country for corporations, we run it for people.

Also, Emanuel Cleaver was on fire, and really stirred up the crowd.

But the one that I thought was surprisingly good was Sandra Fluke, the target of Limbaugh's moronic rants. She delivered some of the best lines of the day.

Oh...so that's what Romney meant when he said he was talking Clinton into an oral contribution...

I forgot to mention that Deval Patrick was great.

I'm looking forward to hearing Biden tonight. He's always a good time.

Repeal the 22nd Amendment.

It was pretty good.

Too bad Clinton himself doesn't actually believe but a small fraction of what he actually said.

Arguing that corporations aren't people because they don't have human-like traits like emotions, bodies, etc. either comically misunderstands the concept of corporate personhood as a legal fiction and why it exists or seeks to dishonestly exploit those who have that misunderstanding.