Nice post, GUEST,Lisa.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: political leadership consists primarily in the ability to inspire and unify the populace through the spoken and (less often) written word. In other words, oratory or, as suggested here, performance. That's what galls me so much when Obama's opponents offer the criticism that he is giving us "nothing more than" rhetoric. That's just what we need!!! (Intelligent and effective rheotric, that is, of course.)

I find it particularly absurd to hear this criticism from that breed of American conservative that idolizes Ronald Reagan, because he's probably the greatest single example of a President who offered nothing but performance, and very effectively, at that.