The lines that caught my attention on the second hearing.

[lollardfish]

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them - that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified. Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end. And those of us who manage the public’s dollars will be held to account - to spend wisely, reform bad habits, and do our business in the light of day - because only then can we restore the vital trust between a people and their government.

Nor is the question before us whether the market is a force for good or ill. Its power to generate wealth and expand freedom is unmatched, but this crisis has reminded us that without a watchful eye, the market can spin out of control - and that a nation cannot prosper long when it favors only the prosperous. The success of our economy has always depended not just on the size of our Gross Domestic Product, but on the reach of our prosperity; on our ability to extend opportunity to every willing heart - not out of charity, but because it is the surest route to our common good.

Change the question. The old binaries were the questions of the Reagan era (pro and con). These are better questions.

The ground has shifted.

Most of the rest of the speech consisted of appeals to our history and touches of cliche, with a few interesting notes on foreign policy.

Comments

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

The second paragraph you quote is a better guess than mine at why the market dropped hugely yesterday, and I'm going to make a new post crediting you.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Interesting. Could well be.

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

But even the financial firms have acknowledged that this collapse is because of inadequate regulation. And the big scandal of the Madoff affair is that the SEC had reports and information 15 years ago, *and did nothing*. So the market ought to react positively to this!

right

[maverick-weirdo.livejournal.com]

The same way that baseball players union should react positively to drug testing.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Among my friends, the most chatter has been about the "non-believers" mention.

B

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's nice to see, but I think it's ultimately less significant.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I think it's a historical first.

B

[madtruk.livejournal.com]

It is, and it's a drastic departure from being told I wasn't an American citizen by George Bush Senior because I didn't believe in saying "Under God" during my pledge.

[lollardfish.livejournal.com]

The Zoroastrians, Sikhs, Buddhists, and pagans ... and all other varieties of believers and non-believers ... shouldn't be excluded. I thought at the time.

[zinzinzinnia.livejournal.com]

I did honestly think he should have said, "Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, all varieties of other believers and non-believers."

Of course, rhetorically, disrupting "the rule of three" by having the last component non-parallel to the other two is more effective in emphasizing the last component, but it does leave out a huge chunk of the population.

I'm surprised there isn't more chatter too about the Benediction's implicit indictment of whites who "will embrace what is right" (i.e., they don't now, but will in the future, as opposed to "white will keep on the path of right" or something similar).

[zantony.livejournal.com]

There is chatter about Lowery's comment, but it's mostly from people looking for an excuse to kick up a fuss. I did not take it to mean that he thought whites were not presently embracing what was right any more than I thought he was implying that Asians are not currently mellow. Besides, the whole bit made me laugh.