Says Obama: Some People Say…
The pioneering idea-shapers at Fox News long ago stumbled upon a very sly phrasing which effectively allowed their commentators to interject personal opinion into dialogue, as evinced in this wittily-composed clip from the Fox News exposé OutFoxed:
Invoking the same anonymous “people”, Obama has taken a lesson in persuasive rhetoric:
Often he plays Aunt Sally for rhetorical effect. He doesn’t mischaracterize, exactly, but he exaggerates to bring his point into higher relief—as he did last week when talking about the ongoing threat of terrorism: “Some people say … if we changed our policies with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or if we were more respectful towards the Muslim world, suddenly these organizations would stop threatening us. That’s just not the case.”
- The Careful Exaggerator by John Dickerson for Slate.com
The problem of persuasive rhetoric and the proverbial smooth operator is that double-edged sword of a tongue – is Obama’s sly talent of manipulating meaning truly serving your interests … and when are you on the receiving end?
Ask him and you’re sure to feel as though you got the answer you were looking for – regardless of what has been said.
