A Speech Bush Would Have Given?

[EarlG]

So I thought this was pretty interesting... er, maybe. I've seen a quite a few people tonight suggesting that Obama gave a Bush speech, so I thought I'd make some of those "tag clouds" that allow you to visualize the most frequently-used words in a chunk of text and see what came out.

I used the text of Bush's October 2001 address to the nation in which he announced "Operation Enduring Freedom", and Obama's speech tonight in which he unveiled his new policies. Here they are:


Bush's Tag Cloud




Obama's Tag Cloud




At first glance they look similar, but on closer inspection not so much. Here are a few differences I spotted:

Words used repeatedly by Bush but hardly or not at all by Obama:

action, freedom, friend, language, patience, peace, sacrifice, states, terrorist, today

Words used repeatedly by Obama but hardly or not at all by Bush:

al qaeda, allies, forces, government, Pakistan, responsibility, security, troops, war


I don't have a grand conclusion... make of it what you will.

[WilliamPitt]

1. Fascinating way of looking at the issue.

Thank you for doing this. K&R.

[BeFree]

21. Pftt

That was some screed you issued.

And pretty much dead on. We've heard it all before, eh?

So, it must have been targeted at an audience that was pretty much the same?

[WilliamPitt]

22. ?

I don't understand.

[BeFree]

24. It's late. You're sleepy.

It doesn't matter. But the speech of Obama's was pointed at the same audience that *'s were, that's why they were similar.

[leftstreet]

2. Your Bush tags are wrong. None of those words are misspelled

It's Terrist

'Merka

etc

:rofl:

[jgraz]

12. If it was Bush's copy of the speech, the words would all be spelled phonetically

and in crayon.

[EFerrari]

20. Over pictures of ducklings and chicks.

[bridgit]

3. Sweet!

:kick:

[Cha]

4. Well, thanks for that amazing tag cloud thing, EarlG.

[NYC_SKP]

5. Thanks! I remember these from last year.

K and R!

:kick:

[redqueen]

6. Thanks for this. (nt)

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

7. Sometimes word clouds can be interesting.

But these are about as useless as I've ever seen.

That said, I can't take anybody who compares the two seriously.

[girl gone mad]

8. Actions speak louder than words.

[Hekate]

9. Thanks, EarlG. "Tag clouds" huh--very interesting. nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

10. Well bush talked to us like kids

Obama talked to us like oh Graduate Students.... who actually can understand complex issues

Thanks by the way, fascinating exercise.

[arcadian]

11. It's flawed

Neither cloud makes mention of September 11. And let's face that was the bulk of any Bush speech and Obama mentioned it a lot in tonight's speech.

[WilliamPitt]

23. He said it twice

I counted.

[arcadian]

26. He said it 6 times.

[shotten99]

13. Bush would have never defined the strategy so concretely.

[Swamp Rat]

14. k&r for rectangularly-shaped word clouds

:D

[Starry Messenger]

15. Context is everything.

Wordclouds are pretty but lack context.

[Fuzz]

16. With the exception of we've made mistakes, and a date for withdrawal, pretty much.

Oh, and a commitment to non-military solutions.

[The_Casual_Observer]

17. It's all bullshit, Obama isn't up to the task. The old Iron Triangle is still running the show.

Endless war.

[HughMoran]

18. Obama "begin to come home", Bush - not so much

...one little phrase that the word cloud doesn't see.

[EFerrari]

19. Obama gave it in English?

lol

[berni_mccoy]

25. Great post EarlG. Thanks and K&R.

[Phentex]

27. The word war says it all...

and I can't wrap my head around it.:(

[Tailormyst]

28. Wow. I am not sure what to make of that.

You just blew my mind.

[bluesmail]

29. well, here goes

:thumbsup:

[Vinnie From Indy]

30. Here is one way to look at it

action - war
freedom - security
friend - allies
patience - responsibility
peace - security
sacrifice - war
terrorist - Al Queda
terrorist - Pakistan

I have actually given the speech a second listen and I am beginning to agree a bit with Rachel Maddow. She offers that Obama has accepted many of the fundamentals of GW Bush's stated rationale for the war. I will add that in many respects Obama simply put a much higher polish on this turd. His speech was more masterful at seeming to be all things to all people. He covered all the bases in somber tones, but a turd is still a turd. That being said, I do earnestly hope and pray that his decision achieves the goal of an 18 month pullout schedule, but I am not holding my breath.