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Nov. 6, 2009
Rabbi Berel Wein: Choosing to hear
JWisdom.com Zero to 1/60th: How to Empower An Hour with Gavriel Aryeh Sande (7 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick The mullahs' big week
Suzanne Fields A Fallen Wall for Fallen Man
Nov. 5, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet: Three scrumptious -- but simple -- butternut squash dishes
JWisdom.com Hidden Hints: Unlocking Faith & Prayer with Rabbi Jay Yaacov Schwartz (10 minutes)
Nov. 4, 2009
Tom Hamburger and Kim Geiger: Should prayers be covered?
JWisdom.com When God played peacemaker With Rabbi Sroy Levitansky (5 minutes)
Nov. 3, 2009
Martin Peretz: Beware, Barack. Beware, Rahm. Beware, Axelrod
JWisdom.com Are you are closet idolater? With Sara Yoheved Rigler (10 minutes)
Nov. 2, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The Holocaust is now on Facebook
JWisdom.com Abraham's Strange Change With Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (5 minutes)
Oct. 30, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Secret to Immortality
Caroline B. Glick Silencing dissent in America
Oct. 29, 2009
Lini S. Kadaba: Do tactics avert flu or reduce humanity?
JWisdom.com We Must Revamp our Religious Vocabulary With Gavriel Aryeh Sanders ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 28, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: Atheists in Bubbleland
JWisdom.com Why what we wear impacts who we are With Rabbis Mordechai Becher, Menachem Golberger and Aliza Bulow ( 10 minutes)
Oct. 27, 2009
Paul Greenberg: The United Nations Is Outraged Again, Or: Department of Mideast Static
JWisdom.com The Science of Love With Rabbi Jonathan Rietti ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 26, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir: Damaging disclosures with a twist
JWisdom.com Wisdom and Wonks With Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 23, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: Are you ready for the ultimate pleasure?
JWisdom.com Watermark and oneness with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 4 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick Stop using limited powers in a way that expands our enemies' advantages over us
Oct. 22, 2009
Steven Emerson: Terror Cases Share Desire to Kill Americans
JWisdom.com No More More Family Fights --- Really? By Sarah Chana Radcliffe ( 5 minutes)
Oct. 21, 2009
Tonya Alanez: Holocaust denier sues survivor, calling Auschwitz memoir 'vicious lies'
JWisdom.com Meditating Jewishly: A Panacea for Success by Sarah Yoheved Rigler ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 20, 2009
Dennis Prager: Obama and Dalai Lama: Why Israel Worries about U.S. President
JWisdom.com Abraham was not religious By Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer ( 6 minutes)
Oct. 19, 2009
JWisdom.comWhy Good People Do Bad Things By Rabbi Eytan Feiner ( 7 minutes)
Oct. 16, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: The Perfect Number
JWisdom.com Hearing Voices By Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 5 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick How Turkey was lost
Oct. 15, 2009
Jeff Jacoby: Peace vs. the 'peace process'
JWisdom.com: Former MTV producer and stand-up comedian Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff: Taming a Control Freak (A VERY fast 15 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review Nov. 14, 2008 / 16 Mar-Cheshvan 5769

Dumber rather than smarter

By Greg Crosby


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http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | There should be a law against overused expressions. Come to think of it, "there should be a law" is one of them. Come to think of it, so is "come to think of it." Everyone probably has their favorite overused trite expression that they would like to see done away with. I have so many that it would be hard for me to choose which one I'd ban first. You might start with "no problem," "that is so cool," and "slippery slope." And don't forget the ever clever "24/7" which is said by practically everybody, er, 24/7. That witty phrase "You GO girl" should GO directly to the dustbin of tired clichés.


There's a hackneyed meaningless expression that politicians use that drives me nuts. Actually there are lots of hackneyed meaningless expressions that they use that drive me nuts, but there is one in particular that has gained in popularity in recent years. I heard it again today when at a press conference Barack Hussain Obama said, "I'd like to see an economic stimulus package enacted sooner rather than later." It's the "sooner rather than later" part that gets to me.


"Sooner rather than later" means nothing; it's a total bloviation of words. A waste of breath. Complete bull. Why not simply say, "I'd like to see an economic stimulus package enacted soon." Period. Sooner, by definition, already means rather than later - you don't have to say it. It would be like saying "Id like to have my coffee at a temperature that is hotter rather than colder." Or telling a waiter that you'd like your meal severed faster rather than slower.


Adding the "rather than…" thing is unnecessarily redundant. If you turn on a lamp you're making the room brighter rather than dimmer. Yes, of course you are. If you take a bath you're getting cleaner rather than dirtier. Uh huh. If you lose weight you're getting thinner rather than fatter. Yeah, that's usually how it works. And if you do something sooner rather than later it generally means that it got done sooner. Get the idea?


And speaking of speaking, has anyone besides me noticed that for such an "eloquent" speaker, Obama (when not reading from prepared text) says "y'know" an awful lot of the time? If you haven't noticed him using that phrase, it's because he says it very quickly so it's easy to miss. Sometimes he says it so fast that it kind of sounds like "yo" instead of "y'know." Listen for it the next time he isn't standing in front of a teleprompter. He also stutters when he is trying to talk fast over someone.


My theory on the "Obama Eloquence" thing is that he really isn't such an articulate speaker - it only seems that way because for 8 years we've had a president who couldn't speak in public at all. Whatever else you think about George W. Bush, you must admit the man had no way with words. Bush just couldn't express himself; he couldn't get his ideas across. This is a problem in an age where the act of communication is more important than the ideas you are communicating, unfortunately.


With Obama, it's not what he says, it's not even how he says it, it's the SOUND of his voice that people respond to - he sounds like a professional announcer. And he reads speeches extremely well from a teleprompter, knowing just where to place the emphasis, and how long the pauses should be. Clinton and Reagan were masters of that, but they didn't need to read it, they were just as smooth and articulate speaking extemporaneously. No "y'knows" or stuttering.


Americans like their presidents to sound strong - and between Obama and McCain who sounded stronger? You may not like what Obama is saying, but boy; he sure says it with strength and authority.


"What did that guy say?"


"I think he said he's going to raise our taxes."


"Well, that's okay, because he enunciates it so beautifully!"


Being good at public speaking shouldn't be the reason you get elected for president, but I think that's exactly what helped get Obama elected - or at the very least, it didn't hurt. The other thing that didn't hurt was the fact that he looked "cool." Of course voters should vote for someone based solely on their plan for governing, not on the way they speak or look. But we live in a time where people do judge a book by its cover.


At any rate, we now have a new president-elect. We know he has nice diction and mellifluent tones, but how this president will govern is anyone's guess. By all indications, our country will make a sharp turn to the left. Taxes will probably go up, social programs will undoubtedly increase, and big government will in all likelihood get even bigger. This country will be changed drastically, there's no doubt. The only question is, how soon will the changes take place? My guess is sooner rather than later.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

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© 2008, Greg Crosby

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