I’m not the only one who finds Obama boring

A familiar trope amongst conservatives is to concede that Obama is a brilliant speaker, an oratorical genius, whose only problem is substance.  It’s actually not stupid to take this position, because it helps in any argument with a liberal if you can open by saying, “I thought his speech was incredible to listen to BUT…” followed by a polite phrased litany of factual problems within the speech.  If you don’t have that first clause in their, your liberal friend will tune out, and it will all be over.  However, if you do homage before the altar of the O’s silver tongue, you will have established your bona fides as someone who “gets it,” and then can begin the delicate art of deconstruction.

What’s finally happening, though, is that people are realizing that you cannot be a brilliant orator if you’re not actually saying anything.  Oratory is a package deal:  compelling presentation and persuasive substance.  If your substance boils down to a powerful voice in the subway station reminding everyone to “please, avoid the gap,” you’re no orator.

An excellent example of this reality seepage comes from James Delingpole, who blogs for the British paper, The Telegraph.  Now, before I go any further, I have to tell you that I’m charmed right off the bat by someone who easily refers to Milton’s Paradise Lost in considering Obama’s speeches:

Watching Obama lose his screen on screen duel with Dick Cheney yesterday I was reminded of some lines from Paradise Lost.

“Thus Belial with words clothed in reason’s garb

Counselled ignoble ease and peaceful sloth, not peace.”

But while the silver-tongued minor devil Belial would no doubt have approved the President’s new surrender-monkey “realist” approach to the war on terror, I doubt he would have been so impressed with his oratorical skills. Never mind the bizarre reputation Obama has acquired as a great public speaker: his speeches are fast beginning to sound almost as excruciating as anything in his predecessor’s “enhanced interrogation program.”

[snip]

One of his favourite techniques is the false opposition, as here:

“On one side of the spectrum are those who make little allowance for the the unique challenges posed by terrorism and would almost never put national security over transparency. And on the other end of the spectrum are those who can embrace a view that can be summarised in two words: anything goes. Both sides may be sincere in their views. But neither is right.”

Except nobody in the world cleaves to either of these positions. They have been conjured from thin air by Obama – and his trusty teleprompter – in order to make out that anyone who disagrees with his woolly centrist position must perforce be some kind of whacko extremist nut job.

You can read the rest of the post — a post about someone awakening to the boring, uninspiring reality of O talk — here.