Obama's speech in Tucson
dano
I was really happy to hear him use the word "empathy" in this speech --
somewhere about 2/3rds through -- and to focus the entire thing on an
empathetic approach.
The word became a target when he used it in conjunction with the first
Supreme Court nomination (conservatives probably have been studying Lakoff
and saw the deeper meaning of the word in the political sphere, and just
jumped on it like it was the devil incarnate). But here he used it in a
context that absolutely cannot be criticized, and connected it with civil
discourse, loving our children, etc.
Not that this was (or should have been) the primary intent of the speech,
but in the sense of defining progressive value, I thought it was
exceedingly successful and can be built upon moving forward.
This was a very progressive style "Consoler-in-Chief" speech, and I think
it could be important in helping to define a new piece of "common sense" to
stand on. I was happy not only that he did so well with it, but that he
did it in a way that is fully integrated into the progressive value system.