From Ecclesiastes to American politics, we are constantly reminded that there is “nothing new under the sun.” The following could have been lifted from recent President Obama speeches. It could yet wind up in an inauguration address next January.
But here’s what was said in January 1969 by newly elected President Richard M. Nixon:
“In these difficult years, America has suffered from a fever of words: from inflated rhetoric that promises more than it can deliver; from angry rhetoric that fans discontents into hatreds; from bombastic rhetoric that postures instead of persuading.
“We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another–until we speak quietly enough so that our words can be heard as well as our voices.”
How unfortunate that those injunctions–uttered during a time of unpopular war, uncertain societal mandates and uneasy race relations–went obviously unheeded.