President Franklin Delano Roosevelt stirred a nation when he told Americans that the “only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
Civil War President Abraham Lincoln talked of “binding up the nation’s wounds” and listening to “the better angels of our nature.”
President John F. Kennedy, stressing patriotism in his inaugural address, urged Americans to “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.”
But in the annals of scintillating political oratory, has there ever been a more moving declaration of defiance than that recently offered by presidential wannabe Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker?
Speaking Oct. 19 to members of a teachers union, he soared to new rhetorical heights when he said …
“And I’m sorry to be vulgar, but Donald Trump and his cronies can …”
Wait a minute — his rhetoric was so inspiring that decorum forbids repeating what he said.
That’s why newspapers substituted the word “expletive” for Pritzker’s provocative insight. It explains why news video undermined Pritzker’s groundbreaking eloquence by bleeping his profound adamonition.
But it was really something. Those who were there surely were reminded of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s soaring rhetoric when he sought to calm his jittery nation’s nerves during the darkest hours of World War II.
That’s why Pritzker’s audience of teachers, who apparently have embraced the hallway language of their third-graders, roared with approval.
(All of which raises a question: Who knew that all it took was dropping the ultimate expletive to draw a standing ovation?)
The revelatory rhetoric puts Pritzker in the spotlight once again. By escalating his already incendiary tone, Pritzker continues to establish himself as the president’s No. 1 foe.
Bowing to convention, Pritzker offered a before-and-after faux apology that suggested he was momentarily overcome with rage driven by the Trump presidency.
“In that moment, I really was feeling like all of the students of our public schools are being abused by this administration, and it upsets me greatly. And that was a word that came to mind to describe it,” he said.
Given that he was reading from a prepared speech, it’s difficult to credit Pritzker’s claim of spontaneity. The use of profanity has been slowly creeping into political discourse for years. Pritzker just breached convention with his foray into “F-word” territory.
What people heard was obviously pre-planned, designed to present the flattering personal image politicians seek to invoke.
Take sincerity: If politicians don’t learn to fake that, their road to victory is fraught with peril.
It’s the same with “authenticity,” defined as “being actually and exactly what is claimed.”
Pritzker feels it is important that he’s perceived as the real deal.
But how does a multibillionaire who has no clue what life is like for Joe and Jane Sixpack do that? Throw out a lot of rough language infused with main-street vulgarities to the great unwashed.
Of course, not everyone — the usual preachers, prigs and bores — approves.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski characterized Pritzker’s political act as laden with “gutter talk” and said he will communicate with “plain facts, common sense and persuasive language.”
What a stick in the mud. Doesn’t he recognize real eloquence when he hears it?
Pritzker sure does, and he’s got a special word — or two — for those who don’t share his view.
