A large part of my career centered on executive speechwriting. Even when I was officially doing other things, somehow, I slipped back, or was slipped back, into writing speeches.
Most corporate speechwriters read and watch as many speeches as possible, including those by elected officials, candidates, academics, CEOs, and other leaders. And we watch many, many televised addresses by presidents. They are always good learning experiences for a speechwriter. You will inevitably be asked by colleagues and the CEO you write for, “What did you think of the President’s speech?”
I retired six years ago, and I’m no longer asked that question. But I watched President Biden speak Monday for two reasons. One, because like so many other Americans, I wanted to hear the President speak to the terrible events unfolding in Afghanistan. Two, I watched as a former speechwriter.
These kinds of speeches are highly stressful for the speaker; every word, every gesture, and every facial expression will be mercilessly analyzed. These speeches are also highly stressful for the speechwriter. If a speech goes well, the speaker gets the credit. If it goes badly, the speechwriter gets the blame, usually behind the scenes but sometimes publicly.
I listened as an American, and I listened as a speechwriter. As an American I was surprised, stunned, and dismayed by what the President said. As a speechwriter, I cringed. I physically cringed. It got so bad that I couldn’t keep looking at the television screen. I listened to the end, hoping for something else. Something else didn’t happen. I was looking for leadership; what I heard was finger pointing and blame assignment. I was left with “Yes, it’s a disaster, but it wasn’t my fault.”
When CEOs or a presidents face a very bad situation partially or entirely of their own making but that they regardless have responsibility for, that speech Monday is one speech you never, never give. As a speechwriter, it is one speech you never, never write.
Good Reads
Afghanistan
Assabiya Wins Every Time – Lee Smith at Tablet Magazine.
Lightning – David Warren at Essays in Idleness.
Afghanistan, the Pulpit, and the Myth of Progress – Rhys Laverty at Ad Fontes.
The West has lost its virtue: We have abandoned the taboos that held us together – Paul Kingsnorth at UnHerd.
Poetry
Dezső Kosztolányi: Happy, Heartbroken Song – Edit Gallia at The High Window.
The Return of Chaos – Phil Rogers at Society of Classical Poets.
Arachnida Sonnets – Paul Brookes at Fevers of the Mind.
Federico García Lorca predicted his own death in a poem – Dan Sheehan at Literary Hub.
Writing and Literature
James Lee Burke on Organized Labor, Corporate Evils, and the Plot to Dumb Down America – David Masciotra at CrimeReads.
Performative: How the meaning of a word became corrupted – Wilfred McClay at The Hedgehog Review.
'Grendel' at 50: How John Gardner’s Finest Novel Undermines His Ideas About Moral Fiction – Andrew DeYoung at Literary Hub.
Meeting Solzhenitsyn: Reflections on Tolkien – Joseph Pearce at The Imaginative Conservative.
Life and Culture
The Take Trap: A 75mph opinion in a 45mph zone – Samuel James at Insights.
Bored of the Rings – Alexander Larman at The Critic Magazine.
In Praise of White Men: These men will do what others won't – Jack Cashill at The American Spectator.
Faith
Archaeologists Find Evidence of Biblical Earthquake – Aaron Earls at Lifeway Research.
Cornel West on Why the Left Needs Jesus – Emma Green at The Atlantic.
The Broken Church Light – Doug Eaton at The Fight of Faith.
Don’t Feel Sorry for or Fear for Your Kids; Raise Them up to Walk in Faith – Alex Cravens at Eternal Perspectives Ministries.
How Difficult Was the Book of Revelation’s Journey into the Canon? – Michael Kruger at Canon Fodder.
Me Before You – All I Want
Painting: Young Lady Reading, oil on canvas (1878) by Mary Cassatt (1844-1926).
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