Obama: The King's Speech of May 19th
(Image from the Guardian, originally the AP)
It was akin to watching a train wreck. Not because of the human fascination with the moribund, or with carnage. No, most people watch a train wreck because they implicitly know what’s about to happen, and watch just to confirm their worst impulses.
And so it was with Obama’s oratory; not because there was crumpled metal and screams, but because most pundits, casual observers and even the average Ahmed or Daniel on the street had predicted what was to occur. It was a strictly predicable performance, albeit well meaning and powerfully oratorical, at least for an American audience.
