PEOPLE whose business is words love Barack Obama. Worship him, actually, just for speaking well.

Prof Michael Eric Dyson, even cried in The Sydney Morning Herald that "words crackle and sentences simmer or sing in his mouth".

Not like that boor George Bush.

In fact, adds Prof Simon Jackman of Sydney's United States Studies Centre: "Obama's dazzling capacity for rhetoric has been . . . , and will continue to be, one of the cornerstones of his power."

Academics, journalists and other wordspeople say this to praise the new US President.

Words are their currency, you see, and Obama flatters them by using their coin. But so enchanted are they that they miss one thing. They've heard these words before. From Bush.

 Take Obama's inauguration speech last week, which the ecstatic Age said used "refined" and "restrained" words, "tugging at listeners' hearts" and revealing Obama as "thoughtful", "sophisticated" and "intellectual".

The Age was most impressed when Obama said he'd treat Muslims on the basis of "mutual interest and mutual respect".

Age writer and academic Walid Aly agreed: " 'Respect' especially is an immaculate choice of words".

Yet neither Aly nor The Age swooned when Bush in 2002 expressed that same sentiment, using that same "immaculate" word: "We respect the vibrant faith of Islam . . . By working together to advance mutual understanding, we point the way to a brighter future for all."

Indeed, see how so much else of Obama's "sophisticated" speech matched words spoken already by Bush, albeit in a white Texan accent.

Obama: Our nation is at war, against a far-reaching network of violence and hatred.

Bush: Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists . . .

Obama: We will not apologise for our way of life, nor will we waver in its defence . . .

Bush: We will work with our friends and allies across the world to defend our way of life.

Obama: . . . the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free . . .

Bush: Freedom is a universal gift of almighty God . . .

Obama: America must play its role in ushering a new era of peace . . .

Bush: We can usher in a new era of enhanced prosperity and peace . . .

Obama: We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus - and non-believers . . . As the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself . . .

Bush: America values and welcomes peaceful people of all faiths - Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and many others. Every faith is practised and protected here, because we are one country.

And, most crucially:

Obama: Know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more . . .

Bush: All who live in tyranny and hopelessness can know the United States will not ignore your oppression . . . When you stand for your liberty, we will stand with you.

Obama: To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist . . .

Bush: The leaders of governments with long habits of control need to know to serve your people, you must learn to trust them. Start on this journey of progress and justice, and America will walk at your side.

WHY, given such parallels, is one man seen as a dunce and the other a god? It cannot be explained by the bits of Obama's speech that left Bush's script, because what was new was trivial.

Obama talked of tackling a "warming planet", just when a record cold winter was making Americans doubt there was even a problem, let alone a fix.

He hinted he'd end torture, (except, perhaps, in a crisis, aides added), when the CIA and Pentagon had three years ago banned even the waterboarding that had been used on three terrorists.

He also promised to pull gradually out of Iraq, which was Bush's plan, too.

No, these are mere nuances. Far more striking is this: Obama now repeats Bush's most vital insight - that in a globalised world, the US is only safe when other nations share its freedoms.

When Bush revealed his doctrine after the September 11 attacks he was vilified as a cowboy. Yet Obama in repeating it is "sophisticated".

Hypocrisy, I know.

But be grateful that fools who wouldn't heed sense from a Texan white will finally take it from a Chicago black, and love it.

Join Bolt's blog at www.blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt

bolta@heraldsun.com.au