I think Barack Obama deserves a reputation as an excellent wordsmith, helped as I understand it by at least one British speechwriter!

I was impressed by his inaugural speech, and now I'm impressed by the speech he gave at Cairo University yesterday. Although criticised by some Americans for not holding to account Muslims for the actions of extremists among them, he does tackle extremism and I am impressed by the way that he seeks to travel a conciliatory middle path on Israel and Palestine and on women's rights.

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