Lavatory Oratory

This past Tuesday evening the Orange Airhorn delivered the first speech of his second reign to a joint session of Congress. It was the longest such speech in modern history (clocking in at almost 100 minutes*), and the sort of speech we've come to expect from him: short on facts and long on self-congratulation, distortions, insults, and threats. I didn't bother watching because I assumed he wouldn't say anything worth listening to, plus I can't stand the sound of his voice and the style of his delivery.

He's a terrible public speaker, but - perversely - he's a very effective one. 

Back in January I wrote a post about The Decline of Public Speaking, in which I compared the oratorical style of Der Furor with that of Adolf Hitler. I noted at the time that 

Whatever else he may have been, Adolf Hitler was a spellbinding orator with a brilliant ability to match his preparation and delivery to the audience. Der Furor, on the other hand, is a terrible speaker - his speeches are not the focused, compelling addresses of an educated statesman speaking with the gravitas of office, but stream-of-consciousness monologs, full of bizarre claims, childish insults, gross misrepresentations, rambling non sequiturs, and self-indulgent blather.

All of that's true, but I realized after discussing it with my wife and my daughter that it really doesn't matter. Der Furor isn't crafting memorable oratory for the ages - he's talking straight to the audience he wants to reach in the words and style they want to hear. As I wrote in that earlier post, his delivery

appeals to less-educated audiences with short attention spans, who want to be entertained rather than informed or persuaded.

He's practicing what I call lavatory oratory.

People who love this president don't want to hear grand plans and lofty visions for the future ... they want to have their biases and their suspicions confirmed, to know that the radical left lunatics responsible for all their ills are finally getting their comeuppance. They're listening for the confirmation that their favorite president is leading them into a future so fantastic that it can be expressed only in the language of superlatives, never mind that there's no evidence of an actual plan to get there. He says it, so it must be true.

This weekend, I'll be judging a high school debate competition in which earnest young people attempt to sway my opinion their way. I'll judge them on how well they weave facts into compelling arguments, deliver them with conviction, and successfully rebut the facts and arguments presented by their opponents. The winner will win on the basis of facts well presented and arguments well defended; they will most certainly not win if they mimic the lavatory oratory of their president.

Have a good day. Expect better of your elected leaders.

More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* The previous record holder was President Bill Clinton, who spoke for just shy of 89 minutes in 2000.