Public Speaking [Tuesday, January 22, 2013]

[professor-lyman.livejournal.com]

"Every January 20th since the 20th Amendment was passed in 1933--" Josh raised his eyebrow, "--because nothing says 'fantastic idea' like swearing a guy in on the steps of the Capitol in January because it's never cold then, we have inaugurated the President of the United States. It's an unbroken ceremony that stretches back to the dawn of our Republic and the significance cannot be overstated. On a planet where elections are rigged, routinely undermined or not held at all, we do this thing where every four years we run two extremely powerful people against each other and the loser goes home. He--because so far it's always been a he--doesn't grab guns and start a coup. He might throw an extremely epic tantrum behind closed doors, but he doesn't leave the country. He doesn't disappear off the face of the Earth in the middle of the night along with his family and is never talked about again. And that, my friends, is worth celebrating. So there's a parade and balls and pomp and circumstance."

He walked between the desks, handing out sheets of paper. "And an inaugural speech. Some--all right, most--are completely forgettable, but it's the first chance a president gets to set the tone of his administration, to address the challenges facing the nation. This one is Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address, widely regarded as the best address ever given. It's short--Lincoln's speeches generally were--and the context is fairly obvious from the speech. We were finishing up our Civil War and trying to figure out how to put together the pieces of our broken country which for four years had torn itself apart and laid waste to an entire generation of young, and then not so young, men. Many in the North were calling for the South to pay even more heavily than it had, to impose huge restrictions and burdens upon them before they could rejoin the Union.

"Lincoln didn't want to do that. That final paragraph, 'With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations,' is a line that has resonated from more than a hundred years. He was calling us to be better than our need for revenge, our pettiness." Josh shrugged. "And a month later, he became our first president to be assassinated. Because sometimes, and this is important, people are assholes."

He moved back to his desk. "Right then. Next week your assignment is to find a political speech--either from this country or your own--and put together a five minute speech about what parts in it you felt resonated. Examine the language and try to figure out why some speeches soar and some make you fall asleep standing up. Today's assignment, though, was to prepare an informational speech about the last twenty years in your dimension with a visual aid. Wow me."

He glanced up. "Oh, and our press secretary today is Lucrezia Borgia. So yeah, good luck with that."

Fandom High Lacrosse Club, The Danger Shop, Tuesday After Classes

[nomoresportscars]

The Danger Shop was once again a lacrosse field, with empty stands on both sides. And Jackson was standing in the middle of it, in full lacrosse gear. Except for the helmet, which he was holding by his side. There was also a bunch of gear in a pile behind him.

Once it looked like everyone had shown up who was going to, he started to talk. "On the off chance that you don't know, I'm Jackson Whittemore, former captain of the Beacon Hills High lacrosse team which is currently heading for another state championship." And he was proud of that, even if he didn't really play for them anymore. "And this is the Fandom High Lacrosse Club." A slightly less proud moment for him, but whatever. "We're gonna start easy. Most of you know each other, but we'll still have a round of introductions. State your name, your year, and your level of familiarity with the great sport that is lacrosse. Or if you were already here last year, something you learned about lacrosse in the fall."

Simple, right? He nodded back towards the sticks and the balls behind him. "Afterwards, we'll keep it easy and you can just get warmed up by practicing passes. But first, introductions." He pointed at a random club member. "You. Start."

[Again, didn't sign up? No problem. Either handwave or just show up randomly! This is the one time in all of creation where Jackson just accepts people into his life.]