h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Brethren and Sistren,

'Tis the season for political rhetoric that rouseth the masses.

Think for just a second of the greatest speeches in history:

Demosthenes' Phillippics.
Cicero's Catiline orations.
Marc Antony's funeral oration for Julius Caesar.
Henry V's speech, either in its original plain English, or better, as enunciated by Shakespearean actors.
Lincoln's Second Inaugural.
Kennedy's First (and only) Inaugural.

What do they all have in common? Great rhetoric. Elegant turns of phrase. Passion. A sense of justice.

It is in that spirit that I give you a US commentator, one Keith Olbermann. Olbermann used to be a sports commentator. For some reason, he's switched over to politics, and I'm rather glad. It's refreshing to hear an honest opinion delivered with such conviction - and in such good English. See if you agree with me. Here's his latest, the headline-making 'We Have Had Enough'. It's a rant worthy of Cicero. Srsly.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LOuumh83zj0

NOTES:

For ease of reference:

Demosthenes: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0070%3Aspeech%3D4

Cicero: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.02.0019:text=Catil.:speech=1:chapter=1

Marc Antony (according to Shakespeare): http://www.dl.ket.org/latin1/things/holidays/ides/brutus.htm

Henry V: https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/GCMS/RMS-2008-06_A._Curry,_The_Battle_Speeches_of_Henry_V.pdf

or the more popular: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM

Lincon: http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/lincoln2.asp

Kennedy: http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8032&

Hi Dmitri! Thanks for that, I agree and sympathize. But will having enough *be* enough?

Keep your fingers crossed and your thumbs pressed.

The only resolution I can see is to let him take over, destroy the country, let project USA crash and burn, and we all take you back where you came from. It's been a fun few centuries, but every empire hits the rocks eventually.

It's China's turn now.

Actually, please scratch that from the record. I've just thought of some of the pillowcase-wearing loons Ulster sent over there, and I'm not sure I want to take them back as neighbours.

Aha. You thought about the downside.