On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 9:52 PM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 9:09 PM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 8:45 AM, Kevin M. <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >> Hmmm... listen to the president make lame excuses, or watch non-celebs > >> dance like crap. > >> > >> Maybe I could go bowling instead. > > > > I have to say I never understand this attitude. This is exactly why we > have > > broadcast television in this country. > > The older I get, the more tired I get of politicians and speeches. As > it turned out, I did watch this speech, and as indicated earlier, I > found it to be a waste of 30 minutes. This president went out of his > way not to offend anyone, and that offends me, because there are > people out there who need to be called out for their crap. > > I've watched the news recently and seen people like John McCain > criticize this decision. But Obama doesn't call him out. Instead of > telling the Republicans that unlike his predecesor, Obama actually > found a bad guy who has harmed US citizens and committed direct acts > of aggression against the United States, he played it safe. He didn't > bother to point out that when his predecesor sent troops where they > didn't belong, those who opposed the decision were labeled as traitors > by the RNC. So maybe the RNC's members need to shut the hell up or > resign since they are clearly not supporting America. (SNIP) > Most of what you write here strikes me as complete besides the point (which I take to be the value of presidential speeches on broadcast television). You may or may not agree with or admire or hate what the current president says (I hated what the previous president said; I liked what the current president said tonight; I would be happy to explain why I like what the president said tonight on a different thread). Either way, the President has the right/obligation to speak directly to the nation; we the people can like/hate agree/disagree with it as we choose. It is not true that what president's say is meaningless - go back and read a transcript of one of Bush's speeches about the Iraq war, and compare it to Obama's speech tonight. Regardless of which one you like better, they clearly are communicating two very different things - they are legitimating their wars in different terms, using different sets of values and criteria of success. I think you did the right think in watching the speech - now your complaints about it (even if I think they are invalid) are legitimate. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
