Nov 24, 2015

Geoff Nunberg Parses Obama's Tough Talk on Terrorism

From Bloomberg News

Obama Gives His Plan to Fight Islamic State an Emotional Makeover

By Margaret Talev and Justin Sink

He used words like “barbaric” and “destroy.” He invoked 9/11. President Barack Obama even invited America inside his White House bedroom when he described a romantic bedside photo in which he and his wife are kissing in France's fabled Luxembourg Gardens.

For all those who have accused him of not reacting emotionally enough to the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks on Paris, Obama seemed determined to provide a strongly phrased rebuttal at his joint press conference Tuesday with French President François Hollande....

Geoff Nunberg, a linguist at the University of California Berkeley School of Information, said while Obama's rhetoric reflects a more emotional approach than in some of his past remarks, it may not be enough to satisfy his critics. “When he expresses anger, it’s in a tamped-down tone that doesn’t satisfy the desire for Sonny Corleone-style bravado, or bluster as the case may be,” Nunberg said in an e-mail following the press conference. “Even when he uses words like ‘barbaric,' ‘murderous,' and 'scourge,' you have no sense of anger brimming up inside of him.”

While calmness often translates to a greater command of power, it's “less cathartic for the public” than more heated rhetoric from politicians such as Republican presidential candidate and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, Nunberg added....

Read more...

Last updated:

October 4, 2016