> George Galloway Testimony to Congress- Full Transcript
7 June 2005, 21:38
Mr. Galloway’s testimony before Congress is an extraordinary act of intellectual courage and manly straightforwardness - most rare for our times. Indeed, he rather recalls the Apologia of Socrates turning the tables on his accusers, the dictatorial regime of The Thirty who had taken over democratic Athens. However controversial Mr. Galloway may be in other connections, his mastery of the English language, written and spoken, is beyond question. The coherence and directness of his speech is a model for any aspiring orator and certainly for an English teacher who preaches, "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity".
If the words of the Democratic candidates for President had been as clear and direct, Mr. Bush and his neo-cons would be history. How tragic and ironic that "the kingdom was lost" in the boring tangle of Mr. Kerry’s subordinate clauses, participial and prepositional phrases. Alas, they seem destined always to trail after his hollow opening words, his inevitable, "I believe".
The secret of Mr. Galloway’ s eloquence is in his word-choice and sentence structure. We learn his main idea quickly in his main clause and his easy Anglo-Saxon talk, with few Greco-Latinisms, and best of all, free of the obligatory Congressional "uhhmm".
Mr. Galloway’s testimony before Congress is an extraordinary act of intellectual courage and manly straightforwardness - most rare for our times. Indeed, he rather recalls the Apologia of Socrates turning the tables on his accusers, the dictatorial regime of The Thirty who had taken over democratic Athens. However controversial Mr. Galloway may be in other connections, his mastery of the English language, written and spoken, is beyond question. The coherence and directness of his speech is a model for any aspiring orator and certainly for an English teacher who preaches, "Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity".
If the words of the Democratic candidates for President had been as clear and direct, Mr. Bush and his neo-cons would be history. How tragic and ironic that "the kingdom was lost" in the boring tangle of Mr. Kerry’s subordinate clauses, participial and prepositional phrases. Alas, they seem destined always to trail after his hollow opening words, his inevitable, "I believe".
The secret of Mr. Galloway’ s eloquence is in his word-choice and sentence structure. We learn his main idea quickly in his main clause and his easy Anglo-Saxon talk, with few Greco-Latinisms, and best of all, free of the obligatory Congressional "uhhmm".