Here’s Marco Rubio’s recent speech at the Reagan Library. 

I’m a word-geek, an idea-geek, so I’ve read a lot of speeches.  Not like a professional politico, and not for the same reasons.  For someone semi-autistic, speeches are very interesting because you can interact with others without really interacting with others.

So in my non-recluse days I actually did speech competitions, even impromptu speaking, which is hard.  Then later tried some stand-up comedy, which is so far beyond hard that you could do a hilarious routine on its sheer insanity.  As the lingo goes, I have both died and killed. 

(Not in that order.  If I had died before I knew what killing was like, I’d choose waterboarding over another stage appearance.)

…where was I?

Oh, yeah, Sen. Rubio Looking at the transcript…I’ve never seen a better speech.

Greater speeches, certainly.  Most available historical ones available are greater.  If they weren’t immaculately crafted they’d never have survived the centuries.  And they were also in response to something epic, or at the conclusion of something tremendous, not simple policy statements to accommodate friends and allies.

If Marco writes his own speeches, and I suspect so, his heart and head are in amazing harmony.  Heart-head harmony.  Almost a catch-phrase.  But it sounds like “hard head”, so no.

(SELF-BERATION–Will you get to the point, sir?!  If such exists.) 

Oh yeah.  What prompted this post is “competition”.  Marco said,

We must educate and train our children to compete and succeed in the 21st century. Our kids are not going to grow up to compete with children in Alabama or Mississippi. They’re going to grow up to compete with kids in India, and China, all over the world; children who are learning to compete and succeed in the 21st century themselves.

Actually, God willing, all kids not in Alabama and Mississippi will be competing with lowly Misses and awesome ‘Bamans. 

Now.  Finally to the point.  Is “competition” a dirty word to you?  Probably not, since you’re W.O.R.M. readers.  You’re probably more bored from lack of competition, awesome mammals that you are.

Well, the “sports league” model is easily the best analogy to show the proper relationship between federal and other American governments.  If you have a better one I’d love to hear it.

Was going to get into it in this post, but was sidetracked by the Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calevaras County.

But the central point:  competitors need each other.