Nation, recently, in a speech to Boy Scouts(!), our beloved president eschewed all the four letter words except “kill,” as he explained to the wide-eyed youths how much he really hates drugs. Some people were shocked, as he practically handed out death threat after death threat, as he is wont to do.
Some of us were mortified, thinking that this kind of language, even when stripped of cuss words, should simply not be tolerated. But what if death threats really were the norm in political speech, the way President Duterte has made it? How would that affect some of the most famous political quotes of all time? Let’s see.
Barack Obama
Yes, we can? Yes, we can! That is the audacity of hope!
Winston Churchill
You may stand up for something in your life, but your enemies won’t be standing for long.
Abraham Lincoln
When they called him “Honest” Abe, boy, they weren’t kidding.
Martin Luther King
He had a dream.
Nelson Mandela
Poe’s law, indeed. But not the Poe you were expecting.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Fear-mongering, you say?
Mahatma Gandhi
Considering how nuke-happy he is in Civilization, Gandhi is well within character here.
Ninoy Aquino
Sounds about right.
What other great speeches can you imagine this way? Share them with us below!
