The Speech

Here is the entire video. My thoughts later.

Update: Here are my thoughts. I am underwhelmed by the speech as such. The frequent interruptions for applause were too annoying, and frankly smelled of desperation. Also may be it is just me but I didn't find Sarah Palin cute, but unlike Respect Ma'am I didn't find her jarring either. What I got from watching her was that a) She is a determined woman, and her opponents if they underestimate her it will be at their own peril (I could almost detect steel in her poise) and b) She relishes attacking, and she is good, not Guiliani good (what can I say, I love the man), but good in her own way. She eviscerated Obama, and I think he must be licking his wounds. I didn't find anything troubling with her aggression. In a way, it was a perfect response to the way her family was dragged in the mud by zealous followers of Obama.

I wanted to make a general point about speeches. There is a perception that the only purpose of speech is to list policy proposals. That, at least to me, is a horrifying idea. Speeches are either meant to rouse the foot soldiers of your campaign by great oratory, or to familiarize general audience with your general philosophy for governance. In this few policy proposals can be included to illustrate how the particular governing philosophy is better that that of opponents but this should not be turned to a dreary seminar on health policy (which, as goat lover can vouch, are no good). Greeks, the original masters of democracy, realized this. Which is why they considered rhetorics as important as dialectics.