P-BO, the Chicago Gansta Rapper
July 5th, 2009 by Republican By DefaultI’ve been bothered for a long time when I listen to Barry’s speeches. I’d rather read a transcript or excerpt than listen to him speak. The reason is the annoying tonal modulation and meter that he uses when he speaks. I hadn’t been able to put my finger on just where it came from, but I knew I’d heard it somewhere before.
I’ve finally figured it out.
I was thinking about a nickname that a radio talk show host had given him. “P-BO”. It’s short for “President Barack Obama”, but it sounds like it could be the name of a Chicago gangsta rapper. Then it him me, Barry’s staccato speech patterns resemble those often used in Rap music.
I’m not a fan of Rap music. Obviously, as a Christian minister who preaches hard against abuse, I’m not fond of some of the lyrics, especially some of the references to women. But what really annoys me is that it’s mostly rhythmic speaking.
Much like poetry, music has meter. It’s the grouping and tonal modulation of words and phrases.
I love poetry. The Bible has a great deal of poetry in it and I love every word of it. What I don’t like is people trying to take the words off of the page and add emotional overtones that don’t belong.
It’s those emotional overtones that Barry tries to add to his speeches that annoy me.
The substance of his speeches is usually lacking in most regards. He tries to please everyone and not offend anyone. He sticks to the Kumbaya, feel-good shtick to hide his lack of foreign policy experience. He deflects blame to the previous administration’s supposed failures to hide his basically socialistic domestic policies. And He tries to hide his obvious disdain for many of the things that most Americans hold dear.
Sure, he messes up and offends large groups of people (like the ones who cling to guns and religion), but he’s a people pleaser so he goes out of his way to avoid things that might cause someone to dislike him. Most of what remains in his speeches is the empty rhetoric of a career politician. But that’s the kind of thing that makes reading transcripts of his speeches annoying.
What annoys me about his speaking is that he tries to manipulate his audience using tonal modulation and a staccato meter. Now I think I can see where he got it.