Obama made his name by giving great, set piece speeches like the magnificent Walls of Jericho speech at the Ebineezer Church but, since the primary election has been over, he seems to have very consciously toned it down a little. His recent speeches have been more traditional campaign speeches as though he was wounded by the superstar digs. Even his DNC speech was pretty conventional by Obama standards.

I have been hoping for one last big speech on a topic less mundane than Winning Elections.  I think it’d be well received and do him a lot of good - especially among the people that are only now starting to pay attention to what he has to say.

But I have to say - even his speeches on Winning Elections are pretty good.

Especially when you compare them to this.

The reason VP Candidates need lots of money to spend on clothes.

Why should someone earns more pay more taxes than someone earns less?

Old McCain: “I think it’s to some degree because we feel, obviously, that wealthy people can afford more.”
Doctor’s daughter: Aren’t we getting closer and closer to, like, socialism and stuff?
Old McCain: “Here’s what I really believe. When you are, reach a certain level of comfort, there is nothing wrong with paying somewhat more.”

That was a long time ago though.

New McCain: He said “We need to spread the wealth around”. That’s one of the tenets of socialism.
Palin: Now is not the time to experiment with Socialism.

Greenspan Concedes Error in Regulatory View - NYTimes.com

Mr. Greenspan said he had made a “mistake” in believing that banks in operating in their self-interest would be sufficient to protect their shareholders and the equity in their institutions.

Mr. Greenspan said that he had found “a flaw in the model that I perceived is the critical functioning structure that defines how the world works.”

Mr. Greenspan, who headed the nation’s central bank for 18.5 years, said that he and others who believed lending institutions would do a good job of protecting their shareholders are in a “state of shocked disbelief.”

When asked what we could do to fix the mess that he had caused, Greenspan mysteriously responded

“Who is John Galt?”