1998 State of the Union Address
 

Here are the first reversals found on The State of the Union address given by Bill Clinton on January 27, 1998. Many more will be posted in the new few days.

(He begins by commenting on the deaths of Walter Capps and Sonny Bono.) ...Tonight I think we should a message to the family and friends that we celebrate their lives and give thanks to their service to our nations...
Now friends. You're my friends

..our leadership in the world is unrivalled. Ladies and Gentlemen, the State of our union is strong?
We'll bow Nazi Whirlwind (A very disturbing reversal to begin. It uses complex metaphors. Here are some simple explanations - Nazi is a metaphor for control, aggression and rigid, biased attitudes. Whirlwind is for energy or spirit.)

..rarely have americans lived through so much change in so many ways in so short a time...
Some muscle fills the crime of the hill

...tonight I come before you to announce that the federal deficit once so incomprehensibly large that it had 11 zeros will be simply zero...
There's a federal effort to sign note

...we have opened wide the doors of the world's best system of higher education...
Soared the Dow

(David's note: I am often asked if I ever find any reversals that are totally out of context with the forward speech and mean absolutely nothing. My answer is usually no. It is one of the first things that convinced me many years ago that Reverse Speech was real .There is usually a direct complementary relationship between the forward and reverse dialogue. But, this example I found on Bill Clinton is definitely an exception to that rule. And just to show that I do present my findings exactly as I find them, here is a totally non related reversal. The forward speech is about accepting changes. The reverse speech is seemingly non related)

..we have to decide whether we're going to try to hold it back and hide from it or reap its benefits
We rode 'em. I found a cab

(Talking about a trip he made to Bosnia) ...The cafe's there were alive with conversation. The progress there was unmistakable...
We will get some Nazi race (This is the second reference to Nazi in this speech. I am puzzled.)

..we must give parents the tools they need to help protect their children from inappropriate material on the internet but we also must make sure that we protect the exploding global commercial potential of the internet...
Someone saw you / Bend their knee and I'll arrest 'em (I have no idea what this reversal means. It seems to be completely out of context with the forward dialogue.)

..an America that has continued to rise through every age through every challenge of people of great works and greater possibilites who have always found the wisdom and strength to come together as one nation..
Your life see a war, see a war

...to form that more perfect union. Let that be our gift to the 21st century... NASA feel lost with it

For more Clinton reversals, please visit our original Bill Clinton Reversals Page.