Forgive me for being a little naive and idealistic in this post:

I read this in kausfiles (it’s quoted from an e-mail): “Anyone who has worked as a speechwriter in politics knows how rare it is for an elected official to take the time to find someone and thank them.”

It provoked some questions. I’m not so naive as to not know that politicians have speechwriters, but I never imagined the situation like this. I never thoughtfully considered that our modern politicians are being given scripts by faceless, unknown persons — and it seems as if they play no part in the creation of these words they say to the people.

And the implications… How do we know what our candidates think? What do these people represent? Carefully crafted scripts written by ghostwriters? Is it just BS, the type of writing us kids are so familiar with?

Do these people make decisions or are they just mouthpieces? Do they believe what they’re saying or are they just skilled orators/actors?

I guess with the modern media and faster news cycles, it seems necessary for speechwriters. But I have one last question: How different would you view history if the Gettysburg Address or [insert favorite historical speech] were written by speechwriters?