The Spiritual Seductions of Eloquence

I believe in the separation of shul and state and you have violated that precious principle. You exposed your Republican bias by exalting the shallow Sarah and tacitly demeaning Barcak. As a Jew in his 86th year I have listened to and read the written word of many rabbis, enough to discern the sincere and the mercenary.
The former are in the majority but a few are not.

I believe in the separation of shul and state, and you have violated that ptinciple.

Since when is being educated, informed, and well-spoken something we don't want in a leader? Oh, I know. When that leader is Black. If we followed the logic of this article, then Americans should have ignored Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights legislation that he advocated. Gellman would have describe Martin Luther King as just another Black man who knows how to talk pretty, but shouldn't be trusted or heeded. Gellman thinks the American people are so stupid that we can't tell the difference between eloquence and action. What he won't admit is that this is just another attack on Obama.

This thinly veiled attack on Obama is disgustingly anti-intellectual and indirectly racist. This actually invokes very long-standing stereotypes about African Americans: that they have a strong oral tradition and know how to inspire by turning a phrase, but they cannot be trusted with responsibility and power.

We've had 8 years of a president who couldn't complete a grammatically correct sentence. Gellman's logic is that this made Bush trustworthy. Guess what, Gellman, people can be eloquent AND tell the truth AND be black, all at the same time. Also, as Bush has proven people can speak poorly AND lie. But like most republicans, Gellman doesn't want us to look at the current administration while making our vote. Gellman is using his own limited eloquence to demean Obama and to insult the intelligence of people who will vote for him. I hope he fails.

The difficulty and inherent danger of making one's way through the seduction of an elegant turn of phrase and inspiring rhetoric pre-supposes a certain level of intelligence and the willingness of the listener to approach what is being said with an objective and unbiased mentality.
When I see posts that indicate a rabid refusal to consider what is said or even to listen to what isbeing said I sometimes feel that faith and hope are not enough to bring this nation to a place where we can each make a difference for the good of all.
It often seems that , in general and unfortunately, ignorance prevails.

am wondering if the gellman god is different from the obama'god and what that may have to do with your own loquacious dismissal of barack ... perhaps a revisit your bible history, before running mouth again, would reveal (pun intended) Moses did the walking while his brother Aaron did the talking http://www.aboutbibleprophecy.com/p1.htm ... perhaps a printed correction or re-write (against Biden) would suffice!

I don't get this op-ed piece at all. So we have to be wary of eloquence and trust the plain speaking politicians instead? I suppose George W. Bush was that honest, plain speaking regular guy. Look what has happened to our country. War, foreclosures, unemployment, even Fannie Mae has collapsed. I'm going for eloquence this time.

My attempt at eloquence...

When Senator Obama heard about the malicious remarks that were being made about Governor Palin's 17-year old pregnant daughter, he said firmly that families are off-limits in the campaign for president.

In her introduction to the United States and the world, Governor Palin chose to publicly deride the same person who publicly defended her family.

Senator Obama's greatest strength and affliction is his incessant desire to bring people of different races, sexes, ethnicities, religions, cultures, regions, or sexual orientations together for a common good.

In the process of briding historical divides, he makes a gaffe...or two...or three...

In defending Governor Palin's family and unborn grandchild, Senator Obama seems to be aware of something we keep forgetting...

Children don???t choose their names, their religion, their color, their gender, their parents, their nationality or where they???re born.

Some of those decisions are made by GOD, others by man's free-will.

More than anything in creation, GOD loves his children...anyone trying to help them to love each other is "always" in GOD's favor.

Senator Obama will be the next President of the United States, not because he's the messiah...far from it...

He'll win because he's surrounded by 33 eagles...

SMIB

Wow, that was really awesome. I have bought a number of your books for my children. My kids especially liked the story, "Does God Have a Big Toe?". I can't tell you how many times I had to read that story before bed to giggling children. Thank you. I will definitely think about getting to the truth in the words. Kind Regards,

An intelligent and well-written article. Thanks Mr. Gellman.

I am concerned, however, that the very word "elequence" may be misinterpreted. We hear so much about "plain talk" and "straight talk". As if when you speak like a Texas cowboy, you're telling the truth, no matter wht you say. (Even if, as with George W. Bush, you're not from Texas at all, but Connecticut.) J. McCain's "straight talk" is no less "elequent" in terms of this article, than Barak Obama's very elegant soeech is. Elegance is also a mathmatics term that means something is very sweet and simple and therefore elegant.

This says so elequently what I've been trying to tell people! "Don't believe everything you hear, or see, or read. (Don't even believe everything you say.) The gullibility level in this proud nation (perhaps too proud?) seems to have rocketed off into the far reaches of space. It is really way out there. This was true back in 2000, when GWB was running, too. People seemed to swallow whole whatever was said, even if it contradict something said a day or a week or a coupe of hours ago.

Th

The article sounds like you used it for the Bush years!
True elequence does equal true intelligence...
We underatsnd want no intelligence did for the country the last 8 yeras!

Nice, very nice and wise words to live by.
I'm not fond of snakeoil salesmen either. .

Well written article. It trudges a bit through part of the eloquence of its topic, but I'd imagine that's the point? There's a funny web-clip on the site 236.com that follows McCain and Obama through a faux-office setting, and this week its about how McCain received a cross from one of his guards after being tortured. It's interesting, and a bit funny. Insightful. http://www.236.com/video/2008/get_your_war_on_the_cross_8755.php