Stanley Fish on education, law and society.Tags:
Then there was the speech, soaring at the beginning and at the end, but in the middle a litany of specifics of the kind he did not offer in the long campaign of 2007-2008.
The key word in my ears was “next.” You asked for proposals; I’m giving you proposals on every topic the media has highlighted in the past year.
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A second key word was “still,” used to acknowledge a failing, or qualify a promise, or introduce a complication. “Still” said, “I know what you’re thinking and I’m going to take it into account.”
And then there was what I call the reverse-infomercial-move. Pitchmen in those ads always say, “But wait, there’s more,” before offering you 10 additional gadgets for your $19.95. Obama said, “But we can’t stop here,” meaning there’s more that we — you and I and especially Congress — must do. All of which laid the groundwork for his exhortations – “Let’s get it done” (twice) and, at the end, “Let’s seize this moment.” The Republicans tried to sit on their hands, but the pull of the rhetoric proved too strong and they rose to its cadences. At least on this night, they didn’t have a chance.
