In my opinion the greatest speech in American history was Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
I dont expect you to be that eloquent or concise, but at least try to avoid the other extreme also
Churchill once gave a long speech in the House of Commons. Later, when someone criticized its excessive length, he said, "I didn't have time to make it shorter."
I try to back up what I say with links that people can check out for themselves, and sometimes quote a few lines from them since I know many people won't click on a link. This makes the posts longer.
The thing is, you can express your opinion in one or two sentences. But to justify your opinion, to explain it a bit. and to give the things that make you believe what you do, and which might convince another reasonable person, takes more than one or two sentences.
So it's a trade off. I could post one- or two-liners that everyone would read, but which would only 'convince' the people who already agree with me. Or I could take the chance that we have some readers among us -- after all, "Liberals read, conservatives watch TV" as a conservative pundit noted -- and post something that gives the reader something to think about.
I agree with you about the Gettysburg Address. Have you read Gary Wills' brilliant book about it? [
Lincoln at Gettysburg - Wikipedia ] (He's an example of someone who went the other way. He used to be one of us, and became one of you. He's a really interesting -- and puzzling -- personality. [
Garry Wills - Wikipedia ])
And, that book, or the key idea in it, is the center of a long-standing political debate within the Right: are we a 'propositional nation', or not. But I won't go into that here. (Sighs of relief all round.)
Another book you'd like, if you haven't read it, is
The Killer Angels, about the Battle of Gettysburg, by Michael Shaara. Absolutely brilliant, one of the top two war novels I've ever read.