The President speaks
Writing by treason on Tuesday, 28 of June , 2005 at 10:09 pm
I listened to the President’s speech on the way home from work. Then I watched it several times on television. Life must have been very different before television. My mother talks about the days when families gathered in front of the radio. “We used our imaginations then,” she always said.
It reminded me of the time I listened to the Gore/Quayle debate on the way home from work. By the time I got out of my car, I was joyous. Quayle was strong, Gore was weak. We had won. Then I watched the same debate on television and had a much different reaction.
I thought of the Nixon/Kennedy debate. Those listening to it on the radio probably voted for Nixon; those watching - distracted by Nixon’s five o’clock shadow and those few beads of sweat - probably voted for the more professionally groomed Kennedy.
I think of the days when Americans never saw the man who lived in the White House or those who ran for office. Before photography, there might have been a painting or two. So has television destroyed politics in this country? It’s not an original thought, of course, but when there are such discrepancies between what you hear on the radio and what you see on TV, how can we deny that we don’t go for the better looking package? Do we even listen to what they say?
When I listened to the President on the radio, he sounded strong, confident. When I watched the speech, I saw what I hadn’t heard in the car. At the end, when he closed his remarks, he choked up. Dad’s a weeper, so’s the son. He can’t help himself, and the tears are genuine. But the visual changes the message.
I listen to the radio. There are radio personalities that I’ve listened to for years, then one day I see them. It’s always a jarring experience. When I was a kid I listened to Franklyn MacCormack. I’m not sure what he looked like then, and I’m not sure I want to know. I think I’ll just keep the picture of him that I’ve had in my head all these years and leave it at that.
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