Two Speeches

This has been floating around the 'net for a while, usually in a version that is a bit biased against one of the speakers. But Southern Man is nothing if not Fair and Balanced so in the Southern Man version all personal pronouns and their subjects are highlighted.

The success of yesterday’s mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq. The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator’s footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues, and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate them.

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as I continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by my intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan . And finally, last week, I determined that I had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan.

Both speeches were uttered by Presidents of the United States on the occasions of the capture (in one case) and justified assassination (in another) of sworn enemies of our beloved republic. One of these men is frequently described as a uniter and the other as a divider. One is frequently scorned for his inept public speaking; the other lauded as a great orator. Can you tell which is which, based on these speeches?

Hat Tip to Gay Patriot, from where the speech text was taken.