Word: speech
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President Obama's speech to a joint session of Congress may be one of the best political speeches of the last few decades. It will certainly be remembered for its cadence, passion, and a degree of astute articulation which has been missing from the national debate recently...
...What the speech did lay out is a road map for getting the economy back in shape and then keeping it expanding. What it did not do, despite its own claims, was say how it would be paid for. (See pictures of how Obama prepares for a speech...
...idea was to determine whether the emotional impact of learned symbolic speech, or semiotics, could be as deeply felt as that of inborn gestures. Shrugging the shoulders, for example, is a universal - and inherent - gesture of confusion or surrender, probably because it lowers the head relative to the upper body, conveying submission. Yes or no head nods may go all the way back to infancy, as babies tend to search for the breast by moving their heads up and down and detach by moving side to side - effectively saying "yes, please" and "no more." Not every culture uses head nods...
...While much of this ambiguity is likely to remain after Tuesday's speech, Obama will be obligated to explain how he views the ongoing international violence and shifting threats. Expect the President to combine a continued determination for victory against terrorist threats with a cautious explanation of the difficult challenges ahead. President Bush did himself great political harm by repeatedly offering rosy projections about the war in Iraq that later proved to be unfounded. Obama, who inherited Bush's military engagements, is not likely to repeat that mistake...
...Less clear is whether the Taliban will accept those terms. On Saturday night, after two days of talks with his father-in-law, Fazlullah, in a speech carried live by Pakistan's main news channels, said his cohorts were still discussing Mohammed's proposals. "We will consult again after the 10-day cease-fire ... We will also observe a permanent cease-fire if the government takes practical steps," he said without elaborating...