Words, Words, Words: The Decline of American Eloquence

Townhall.com ^ | February 25, 2008 | Paul Greenberg

[Kaslin]

It was sad, watching the two remaining contenders for the Democratic presidential nomination engage in a civil little sparring match Thursday night. Because it was hard not to note, once again, the long slow decline of political debate in this country since Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas thought out and fought out the great issues of their day. Those were real debates rather than a joint press conference.

I would rather have heard less from my colleagues in the ever-intrusive media and more from the candidates themselves. It would be a step up if the press weren't involved in these productions at all except to report and comment on them. Matters were better arranged in the series of seven great debates between Mr. Lincoln and Judge Douglas in 1858.

But it is useless to dream of returning to that style of political engagement. Man, homo faber, doesn't just shape his tools, they in turn shape his mind. And our technology, in this case, television, long ago turned presidential debates into a contest between competing applause lines. Result: Instead of thought, we get sound bites.

These days the best one can hope for is that we the people will see past the snappy rejoinders and associated razzmatazz, and compare the candidates themselves - their records, character, qualifications and promise as well as their positions on the issues. But that civic duty seems to get harder every presidential year as television whittles away at our collective attention span. The "progress" of political debate in this country from 1856 to 2008 might be enough to disprove any theory of evolution.

It was good to hear the memory of Barbara Jordan invoked Thursday night - at least three times by my count. She was one of the most inspiring orators of her time as well as a constitutional scholar of some note. Her rhetoric was soaring, but that doesn't mean it wasn't well grounded, too. It had the best of foundations: the Constitution of the United States.

Congresswoman, professor and mother courage, Barbara Jordan was a well of both thought and inspiration. She was the Mahalia Jackson of political rhetoric. She combined the best attributes of both Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois, that is, an eye for the practical and an unswerving dedication to liberty.

Barbara Jordan was her own person - the very antithesis of groupthink. Her refusal to be pigeonholed by race or class or ideology was a constant refreshment, as was the love of the Constitution that permeated her every pronouncement. How she is missed. If only her party would produce a worthy successor. But that, too, is unlikely in these mediocre times for public speech.

In one of her less than astute moves, Hillary Clinton tried to dismiss Barack Obama's gift for rhetoric as just words. I would have loved to see her try that routine on Barbara Jordan; there wouldn't have been much of Sen. Clinton left after that. She'd have been blown away by the sheer force of Barbara Jordan's magnificent, inspiring, imperative words - and the heights to which they took anyone with the heart and soul and mind to be moved by them.

Never to have heard Barbara Jordan speak was to miss one of the great American experiences - educational and spiritual - of the 20th century. May her memory go beyond a politic invocation of her name. Here's hoping her spirit will be born again.

Hillary Clinton's low point during Thursday night's was clear to all: when she stuck with her silly charge of plagiarism against her opponent. It seems Barack Obama had borrowed a rhetorical device from a friend, supporter, and fellow governor (Deval Patrick in Massachusetts) to illustrate the power of words after Sen. Clinton had denigrated their importance in politics.

The only thing Sen. Obama had to do to make his case was to recite some familiar passages, like the Declaration of Independence. The power of those words is evident. Plagiarism? This was more a natural response from anybody with some polemical talent.

But poor Hillary Clinton kept trying to make a mountain out of her molehill. It's her accusation, however unfounded, and she's sticking with it. The audience didn't seem to buy it. There's something worse than fighting dirty in a hard-fought campaign, and that's fighting dumb.

American eloquence may be in decline, but most Americans still recognize that words have power, and the inspiration they provide shouldn't be underestimated. That was Hillary Clinton's big mistake. In a way, it's been the big mistake of her whole campaign. She seems to have no feel at all for the poetry of politics.

[mtbopfuyn]

Word.

[don-o]

The Lincoln - Douglas debates went on for hours and have extremely complex arguments expressed in extremely complex sentences.

We are too dumb and impatient to put up with such today.

[rbg81]

The truth is that people just spent time differently back then. People wrote letters that were 10+ pages long as a matter of course. Compare that with today’s bloggers or...FR posters.

[txzman]

This fact is driven home on a much more basic level: the majority of adults I work with in Healthcare cannot write a simple letter that is grammatically correct, uses punctuation properly and doesn't have to be read twice to make sure you understand its meaning.

[Max in Utah]

People didn't have television a hundred years ago that wasted their time and corrupted their english. The literate read books and emulated the language therein. Teachers were much more strict and were backed up by children's parents.

Today you can easily find mistakes in most any newspaper, made by professionals who definitely should know better.

[Rippin]

Hillary was right. Obama’s chatter is ‘just words.’ It doesn’t mean anything and when it does its positively stupid.

[Mrs. Don-o]

In my opinion, a person who is unable to write an intelligible paragraph about a candidate or an issue on the ballot, should not be allowed to vote.

And yes, I'd be the judge.

[don-o]

Search YouTube for “read a book”

Warning and disclaimer: Vulgar street language; but LOL funny.

[NicknamedBob]

"... a person who is unable to write an intelligible paragraph about a candidate or an issue on the ballot, should not be allowed to vote."

I may be coming down with oldtimer's disease, 'cause I used to know how to vote, and now I'm kinda confused.

.

P.S. God bless and keep Ben safe as he serves.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Thanks for the kind words.

[Richard Kimball]

At one of my graduations, when I checked the award trophies “Valedictorian” had been misspelled. I told the graduate I needed to return it. I mentioned it during the graduation ceremony, and said, “We IS a college, so it should be spelled properly.” I seriously believe about half the audience didn’t get it.

[SamAdams76]

Abraham Lincoln used to read law books by the log cabin fireplace while growing up. Lincoln basically self-taught himself by reading books. I don't think he attended any formal schooling at all outside of a couple of years in a schoolhouse.

Not having distractions like TV and video games had a lot to do with people being so well-read and well-spoken back in those days. I also think this is why we don't have any great composers these days like Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. Composers used to spend 10 hours a day writing and re-writing their scores. Not possible in today's world unless you move to a monastery or a cabin in Montana.