The Onion sets its sights on speechwriting

The satirical newspaper The Onion made a solid point about speeches this week, with a short piece that began,

As the Detroit Lions entered the locker room Sunday following the first half of their game against the Chicago Bears, head coach Jim Caldwell reportedly provided every player with a three-page printout of an inspiring halftime speech. “Everyone, please take one,” Caldwell told players as he handed out copies of a 1,400-word, single-spaced motivational locker-room address, titled “Halftime Speech 10/18/15,” which had various words and phrases bolded or underlined for emphasis. …

(Thanks to speechwriter Lorne Christensen for the steer.)