Such was the judgment of many Washington drama critics. But there’s a reason that this speech was austere, not pretty. Form followed content. Obama wasn’t just rebuking the outgoing administration. He was delicately but unmistakably calling out the rest of us who went along for the ride as America swerved into the dangerous place we find ourselves now.
“Drama critic” is a very useful descriptor for most political commentary and analysis. (And, in just two words, it lays waste to the recent New Yorker essay on Hanna Arendt.)
Give how much air time, ink and bandwidth was wasted this past week on inexpert rhetorical analysis, it’s worth noting that Rich arrives at his conclusion logically, following the first step of the discipline: establish the audience.