Great and powerful

I was impressed with Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver last night. He looked both authoritative and at ease. He said important things that begged to be said about the direction our country needs to go – toward tolerance, integrity, and a shared ethos; and away from fear-fueled bias, dissembling, and special interests. As oratory, it was above-average, not brilliant; nor did I come away with that one unforgettable "Ask not what your country..." nugget. But the message was on-point and well delivered. (As I write this, it occurs to me that the McCain ads painting Obama as a celebrity missed the mark. He does not have an especially high charisma quotient as politicians go. His appeal is more that of an earnest, honest, whip-smart workhorse. The rock-star image, in my opinion, derives more from Obama's relative youth, his racial novelty, and his compelling personal saga.)

The cut-away shots of Obama's gorgeous wife and sweet young daughters, and of teary-eyed citizens crowding the enormous stadium, were a perfect counterpoint to his composed, forceful eloquence.

I was less comfortable with the temple-like set behind Obama (above) and the giant flanking screens. The screens enlarged him to Wizard-of-Oz proportions, recalling a movie scene that scared the pee out of me as a young child:

"Silence, whippersnapper!" Yikes.

As Republican pundit Peggy Noonan pointed out this morning on the Today Show, the columned façade was a visual nod to Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Dream" speech at the Lincoln Memorial precisely 45 years earlier.


I have no issue with Obama's team referencing King's legendary speech; the nomination, after all, is a historic milestone in its own right and a victory for the civil rights King championed at the cost of his life.

Rather, the whole set-up struck me as borderline tacky and semiotically a bit ominous. Flags waving, a grandiose edifice as backdrop, a lone charismatic figure on high, the unison chants of a dazzled crowd... Well, I'm sorry, but the scenes that involuntarily came to my mind were these:



Calm down! I am not in any way equating the honorable and admirable Sen. Obama, who has had my vote for the presidency almost from the start, with the evil, twisted Hitler.

But choreographed political spectacles give me the heebie-jeebies. They make me want to take a step back, to say, "OK, this is the man we want as our leader, but can we cool it with the imperial imagery?".


There is no sanction in these United States for all-powerful wizards or dictators. Please let us always have the wisdom and the will to keep it that way.

And, one more thing: Vote Obama for change!