Do you believe in me?
September 11, 2008 4:11 AM   Subscribe

10-year-old Dalton Sherman of Dallas, Texas is an impressive young public speaker. (SLYT)
posted by pjern (46 comments total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
He'd make some candidate a nice, little vice-presidential running mate.
posted by Faze at 4:25 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Dallas Independent School District better not give up on this young man.
posted by punkfloyd at 4:27 AM on September 11, 2008


... for his age.
posted by BrotherCaine at 4:29 AM on September 11, 2008


He'd make some candidate a nice, little vice-presidential running mate.

Why think so small? I see this kid as the head of some suburban megachurch, printing money. Politics is for losers.
posted by three blind mice at 4:40 AM on September 11, 2008 [2 favorites]


Yeah I was going to say, maybe for a 10 year old. What's so impressive about speaking to "over 20 thousand of you!?"
posted by delmoi at 4:40 AM on September 11, 2008


He's not bad. The confidence of youth helps a lot though. I hope he keeps it up.

Additionally, if he avoids community work and becomes interested in hockey, dog breeding, and hunting he could be a good plan B for thirty or so years down the line should the election go the wrong way in November. All the more so if he becomes mayor of a small town to get some executive experience. Oh, and move to Diomede, Alaska so he can get some good foreign policy experience being effectively on the Russian frontier.

How could he lose then?
posted by knapah at 4:49 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


he is a young jimmy buffet
posted by rexvanderwoodsen at 5:10 AM on September 11, 2008


What a load of wankery.
posted by autodidact at 5:18 AM on September 11, 2008


Let's go ahead and draw the distinction between public speaking and just flat-out acting, though, huh? Kid was pretty good, but this was much more a monologue than an address.
posted by penduluum at 5:33 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Rumor has it that he doesn't write his own speeches.
posted by twoleftfeet at 5:36 AM on September 11, 2008


not bad. i'd be really impressed if he actually wrote all that.
posted by lester at 5:36 AM on September 11, 2008


We need to stop telling American children that they can "be anything" or "do anything", because sooner or later, they're going to stop and take a look at all of us adults and ask why we never were anything or did anything, and that will be an awkward moment of self-reflection, and no one wants that.
posted by ColdChef at 5:41 AM on September 11, 2008 [44 favorites]


"Do you believe in me?"

No.
posted by a3matrix at 5:50 AM on September 11, 2008


I managed to get as far as "I... believe in me. Do you... believe in me?" before I thought "What a little gobshite." and closed the window. Hey ho.
posted by jack_mo at 6:09 AM on September 11, 2008 [14 favorites]


Cocky little punk.
posted by banished at 6:10 AM on September 11, 2008


I'm sorry, that speech is terrible. It's nothing but a bunch of simplistic rhetoric and basic crowd involvement tricks. "Hello, Cleveland!" The delivery is great, and it's impressive that someone so young can do that. Then again, so was Shirley Temple when she tap danced at age six.

Three Blind Mice got it right: this kid would do great leading a megachurch.
posted by Nelson at 6:11 AM on September 11, 2008


he's good for a ten-year-old, but that's about it.
posted by Xany at 6:26 AM on September 11, 2008


Don't be a cynical bastard. Don't be a cynical bastard. Don't be a...oh screw it.

It doesn't take an "impressive public speaker" to move an audience that's just waiting for the chance to bust out their Amens and Hallelujahs.

Shit!
posted by JaredSeth at 6:41 AM on September 11, 2008


Testify!
posted by chunking express at 6:42 AM on September 11, 2008


Now that he's (hopeully) started school again I just hope he's not so full of himself that he considers math homework beneath him. That is, if he isn't already on tour doing crowd warmup at corporate motivational seminars.
posted by longsleeves at 6:44 AM on September 11, 2008


If he gets into politics we will have to review the Damien: Omen scenarios.
posted by crapmatic at 6:54 AM on September 11, 2008


Precocious halitosis.
posted by Dr-Baa at 7:17 AM on September 11, 2008


Yes, I believe in you, Dalton. I believe you can do anything. In particular, I believe you can prove that P≠NP. Don't let me down.

Remember, folks, this is Dallas, where kids are not allowed to fail.
posted by erniepan at 7:17 AM on September 11, 2008


I kept waiting for him to burst into song.
posted by steerpike at 7:21 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


PablumFilter.

That was excruciatingly bad.
posted by vertigo25 at 7:25 AM on September 11, 2008


erniepan: reading through that article, I can't see anything that says the students aren't "allowed to fail."

I can see it's a system designed to make more children with particular needs pass, but that's really not the same thing. I have a feeling that most people who oppose those rules have never had to go home to an empty house to do their homework, nor suffered from ADD or a lot of other problems that system seems designed to address.

As someone who got all "A"s on my tests, but was consistently reprimanded, had my average reduced and was even held back one year, *all* because of late or incomplete homework, I can assure you that it's not a case of laziness nor lack of intellectual ability.

All that system says is that if you're learning and can demonstrate that you are, you don't need to do the busy work.
posted by vertigo25 at 7:45 AM on September 11, 2008


Sweet baby jesus you people are cynical as hell.

Delmoi: "What's so impressive about speaking to "over 20 thousand of you"?

Is that a complete joke? Have you ever in your entire life spoken to that many people? You have not. That kid is freaking amazing. I started sobbing into my cheerios when he got to that bit about "Do you believe we can all go to college or get a good job," because it seems that so many of the people charged with conferring this belief into young persons through our public education system are as cynical as the people commenting in this thread.

He's TEN YEARS OLD. No script, just standing there - he doesn't even have a podium! And he begins by announcing that he's fearless! That. Is. Amazing.

"Gobshite?" "Cocky little punk?"

Seriously?
posted by Baby_Balrog at 8:03 AM on September 11, 2008 [3 favorites]


Sorry, this doesn't impress any more than the half backed kid acts like America's Got Talent. It does nothing for me. Good for him, but I would much rather see someone who could sound spontaneous and real.
posted by JBennett at 8:11 AM on September 11, 2008


28 comments and no one's brought up race yet. A big reason this speech works is it's a young black male asking "do you believe in me?" I can't decide if that's a sincere expression or if it's just a cynical ploy.
posted by Nelson at 8:16 AM on September 11, 2008


In the words of Jon Lovitz: Acting!
posted by Bromius at 8:17 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Race is not an issue with this. It's delivery. I can't get past the studied phony delivery to get anything from the message. The way it comes out is just corny schmaltz.
posted by JBennett at 8:20 AM on September 11, 2008


"I can do anything, be anything, create anything..."

One of the distinct advantages of still being 10 years old.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:28 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


The line between charmingly precocious and irritating is so, so thin.
posted by rusty at 9:12 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


So totally not in the mood for charmingly know-it-all ten-year-olds.

Due to the email I just got this morning from our know-it-all second son on his third bloody day at college, five days after his 18th birthday:

Today i got a tattoo on my chest (don't worry it is hidden from the suit line to neutralize any doubts from my employer) it's nothing cliche` or too common it's just a simple Veritas Invictus and it's translation is Unconquerable truth. It's a nice tattoo. By the way everything is great...

That's how they grow up!
posted by Jody Tresidder at 9:12 AM on September 11, 2008


That was surprisingly depressing.
posted by nickyskye at 9:15 AM on September 11, 2008


I, too, believed the children were our future. Then I take a look at what they actually did with the last 20-or-so years, and I think to myself: "Man, it's no wonder Whitney took up the pipe!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:40 AM on September 11, 2008


Another spokeskid.
posted by bigmusic at 9:54 AM on September 11, 2008


That delivery would bring William Shatner to his knees with tears of joy.
posted by owtytrof at 10:03 AM on September 11, 2008


Call me when his voice changes. I don't know if it's inherent cynicism, or inner ear damage, but the sound of a child's voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me. The only thing worse than hearing them talk is hearing them sing.

If I ever have children of my own, they're getting intense hormone therapy at birth so that by the time they begin speaking, they do so in the deep silky baritone of Barry White.
posted by billyfleetwood at 10:57 AM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


I voted for the other guy who promised me Bonne Belle chapstick dispensers in every bathroom.
posted by clearly at 11:39 AM on September 11, 2008


In some ways, this seems like something I've seen before...
posted by Lesser Shrew at 12:09 PM on September 11, 2008


A ten year-old doesn't know jack sh*t and has nothing to speak about that interests me. I'll listen when he's forty, had a job, a family and some actual life from which to draw rather than hype, platitudes and performance. You see, this stuff is exactly what is wrong with America: adults sitting and applauding a performing child. Kids are wonderful (yes, I'm a parent) but the only time they need to lecture an adult is when the adults are more childish than the adults. If that is the case, we are all screwed (which, sadly, might be the case).
posted by FrankBlack at 2:52 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Teacher: "Alright, kid, remember two things: first emphaSIZE... SYLlables... and... COUNT... TO... FIVE... beFORE saying THE... NEXT... WORD!"

Dalton: "FUCK... YEAH!"
posted by Frank Grimes at 5:49 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Wow, you people have some hangups.
posted by xmutex at 6:00 PM on September 11, 2008 [1 favorite]


Obviously he's just memorized a platitude-packed speech written by an adult. Not exactly impressive. And the content was all bullshit. This crap about, "Do you believe? ... Do you believe? ... Do you believe?" was nauseating.

I think he's got a bright future as a "pulpit pimp."
posted by jayder at 8:07 PM on September 11, 2008


I kept waiting for him to burst into song.

I actually did think he was singing a song from the play Annie for a second there.
posted by P.o.B. at 12:24 PM on September 12, 2008


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