Bill Clinton speech on September 11, 1998 Bill Clinton starts off his speech by sucking up to his listeners. â∠ÂThank you very much, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the White House and to this day to which Hillary and the Vice President and I look forward so much every year.ââˆHe claims he was â∠Âlooking forwardââˆto this speech, but this has to be a huge embarrassment to speak about cheating on his wife. The phrase â∠ÂThank you very much, ladies and gentlemen,ââˆis a good example of an idiom. Too many politicians use it, and it gets old.
Then Bill Clinton tries gain sympathy from his listeners. â∠ÂSo if you will forgive me, I will do my best to say what it is I want to say to you ââ¬" and I may have to take my glasses out to read my own writing.ââˆ(Then he puts on his bifocals and pulls out hand-written notes.)
Clinton was most likely attempting to appear more honest by taking out his bifocals. He appears to be older, and more sincere with the addition of the bifocals. He also takes out hand-written notes to make his words more personal. He does everything he can to gain sympathy.
Bill Clinton compares the Monica Lewinsky situation with a journey. â∠ÂFirst, I want to say to all of you that, as you might imagine, I have been on quite a journey these last few weeks to get to the end of this, to the rock-bottom truth of where I am and where we all are.ââˆBy using the word â∠Âjourney,ââˆhe creates an image of a great journey through a forest or a mountain. This word also helps him seem like he is going through really tough times right now, and he is working hard to get out of this bad situation. The metaphor â∠Ârock bottomââˆis a well-chosen one. It creates the listeners to think how he feels â∠Ârock-bottomââˆtoo. Again, he is trying to gain sympathy from his listeners. He also says â∠Âwhere we all areââˆto make it seem like he is trying to gain understanding and be in good relations with everyone.
Then he actually says that there are no euphemisms to cover up the situation with Monica Lewinsky. â∠ÂI donâ≢t think there is a fancy way to say that I have sinned.ââˆHe actually admits that he has sinned. He is also trying to seem honest.
Then he tries to seem like a moral person. â∠Âwhat my Bible calls a â∠Âbroken spiritââ¬ÃÂ; an understanding that I must have Godâ≢s help to be the person that I want to be; a willingness to give the very forgiveness I seek; a renunciation of the pride and the anger which cloud judgment, lead people to excuse and compare and to blame and complain.ââˆHe uses the metaphor â∠Âbroken spiritââˆto show that he is really ashamed of his actions, and make it seem like his actions with Monica Lewinsky was his first immoral act because he just broke his spirit. At the end of the paragraph when he goes on about â∠Âa renunciationââ¬æââ¬ÃÂ, itâ≢s a very vague sentence, and the word cloud creates an inappropriate imagery which create people to think about the imagery of cloudiness to much, and gets the listeners minds off the Monica Lewinsky sins.