More from Roger Rosenblatt

There's a great country out there. Take it.

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Roger Rosenblatt

Brigham Young University Commencement 1998, 1998

The Story Behind This Quote

Rosenblatt's closing line was the only moment in the speech where the mask slipped — or perhaps where the satire achieved its deepest truth. After eleven mock job descriptions that had systematically catalogued the absurdities of American public life, the final sentence pivoted to sincerity. 'There's a great country out there. Take it.' The line worked because of everything that had preceded it. Rosenblatt had just spent the entire speech demonstrating how many positions of influence were held by frauds, incompetents, and self-promoters. The closing was both an acknowledgment of that reality and a challenge to the graduates: the country was there for the taking precisely because so many of its current occupants weren't doing the job. The humor had been the setup; the earnest charge was the punchline.

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