Tag Clouds of Obama's Inaugural Speech Compared to Bush's(readwriteweb.com)
readwriteweb.com
Tag Clouds of Obama's Inaugural Speech Compared to Bush's
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/tag_clouds_of_obamas_inaugural_speech_compared_to_bushs.php
25 comments
You have to give some points to his speech-writer magicians.
I don't know who wrote this speech, but that person is very good at getting the points across that his administration wanted the people to hear -- but could also could hear Obama speaking.
But you are right -- this will go down in history as a historic and elegant speech.
I don't know who wrote this speech, but that person is very good at getting the points across that his administration wanted the people to hear -- but could also could hear Obama speaking.
But you are right -- this will go down in history as a historic and elegant speech.
There was a post about him here a few weeks ago http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/fashion/20speechwriter.htm...
What I find interesting is that no single word jumps out as much as "freedom" for Bush or "government" for Reagan or "new" for Clinton. This is consistent with what you are saying, Obama is not trying to drive home a single word or concept to "brand" his Presidency, he is actually explaining where he thinks the country is and where it needs to go.
My favorite part was the line about "putting aside childish things." It was a short but powerful dig at the last two decades (at least) of partisan politics. Grow up, get past the childish name calling, and get to work on solutions to our considerable problems.
My favorite part was the line about "putting aside childish things." It was a short but powerful dig at the last two decades (at least) of partisan politics. Grow up, get past the childish name calling, and get to work on solutions to our considerable problems.
Obama's most prominent word is "nation." Perhaps with the added benefit of hindsight, we can attribute more specific meaning to "nation" as we do with the terms highlighted in the previous inaugural addresses.
That was the first thing that jumped out at me as well. One might have thought "change" would get that, but no, it was a balanced speech. Regardless of what happens in the next few years, a great start
I stayed up til the wee hours of this morning to watch Obama's inaugural speech (It occured around 2:10am for me) and I must admit I was impressed and saddened at the same time.
Impressed that you Americans are getting a leader who is inspiring and I hope he does great things for your country (so congratulations!)
Also I was saddened, as Australian politics is in a pretty poor shape right now, which we substituted an aging Prime Minister who kept our economy in good working order for a dud PM. Shame.
Where do I sign up to work hard to help a great nation?
Impressed that you Americans are getting a leader who is inspiring and I hope he does great things for your country (so congratulations!)
Also I was saddened, as Australian politics is in a pretty poor shape right now, which we substituted an aging Prime Minister who kept our economy in good working order for a dud PM. Shame.
Where do I sign up to work hard to help a great nation?
Format of the NY Times version makes it a lot easier to make comparisons:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/17/washington/200...
I just can't find any meaning in this tag cloud thing. Never did actually.
I think it clues you into the president's general thinking. Obama tended to use the word 'nation' and Bush liked the word 'freedom'.
If you didn't know who was speaking and you saw 'health', 'Africa', 'AIDs', you might assume a scientist or doctor is speaking.
And sometimes art is just that, art. It resonates with you or it doesn't.
If you didn't know who was speaking and you saw 'health', 'Africa', 'AIDs', you might assume a scientist or doctor is speaking.
And sometimes art is just that, art. It resonates with you or it doesn't.
I still don't get what "nation" vs. "freedom" tells me.
The preferred type of rhetoric?
The letter clouds are where the real insight is to be gained.
The most striking thing to me was that he explicitly mentioned curiosity. It's not just hard to imagine Bush doing that; it's hard to imagine any recent president.
How about "risk-taking"? I like that Obama frequently mentions it as a virtue, but am not sure if it's common among presidents.
"Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things ..."
I liked that bit, as well as "We will restore science to its rightful place", and the mention of "non-believers".
I liked that bit, as well as "We will restore science to its rightful place", and the mention of "non-believers".
Interesting to look at. More interesting would have been to compare it with W Bush, Clinton, HW Bush, and Reagan and see how it evolved.
Also would be interesting to use the same font and color scheme for the different clouds. I can't help but feel (just by looking at, not reading) the two clouds that the Obama one felt "warmer".
I'm sure that's just coincidence.
Quite true.
that's a great idea
[deleted]
BBC prefers to call it "key words"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/78406...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/obama_inauguration/78406...
Pretty, but a histogram would have done a better job at presenting this comparison.
Thank god, he didn't say "hope" and "change" that much...
Obama gave a beautiful speech today -- no doubt the use of language and delivery are a large part of that, but I find the beauty of his speeches is in the ideas.
Too often politicians fall back on flowery, patriotic language that lacks meaning and substance. Obama's speeches seem, to me, full of purpose and direction. They clearly communicate values, priorities, and objectives.