To-day marks the 45th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech, which he made in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963. Not coincidentally, Barack Obama (who was only 2 in 1963) will later to-day deliver his acceptance speech, as the Presidential nominee of the Democratic party.
Before we tune in to that acceptance speech, let us refresh our memories of that historic speech by Martin Luther King, about which much has been written. There is clear similarity between the oratorical styles of those two iconic figures of American society -- and the younger of the two, it has been said, has gone out of his way to consciously and deliberately "appropriate", copy, imitate, adopt (what's the word?) the form (though clearly not the content) of his precursor's style. It has even been said, in an accusatory way, that he has unilaterally deigned to inherit his elder's mantle.
It wont be said for much longer.
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