The anti-Iraq demonstration on the mall in Washington was all well and good. Not huge by historical standards, but it's always good to put some bodies in front of the capitol and show either support or rejection.
Since I was 3000 or so miles away, I watched it on C-Span. What I saw was both happily familiar and extremely discouraging. Happily familiar because I participated in many such demonstrations against the Vietnam War in the streets and on the Mall, and in Oregon during the weeks before the current war.
Extremely discouraging because what I saw on TV was a lot of people yelling into a microphone, and a lineup of various causes and factions that, while worthwhile to consider, distracted from the message of the day.
First, it did nobody any good to stand in front of a microphone and scream angrily. I'm as angry as anybody, as anyone who has read any of my postings here knows, but the series of belligerence that presented itself on my TV, while perhaps effective in a large outdoor gathering, trivialized the arguments against the war and the Bush administration.
Am I calling for more politeness? No. Well, yes. I count myself in with the angriest of the speakers, but I know how to use a mic and I know what works on TV and what doesn't. Yelling into a mic doesn't play well, except with the people who agree with you to the letter. Hell, I'm on their side and it annoyed me. Imagine how it played elsewhere.
You know what it's like? It's like watching a play performed in a theater, but shot for TV. The actors are playing to the balcony because they have to be heard, but to the viewer, it appears as though the actors are overplaying everything. Everything is exaggerated to the point of ridiculousness.
Thankfully, nobody watches C-Span.
And another thing. Stop with the chants. It was one thing to yell "Hell no, we won't go," even "Ho Ho Ho Chi Minh, NLF is gonna win" in 1968. It's another thing to keep chanting the same things over and over and over and over. Get a new tune. Better still, don't chant. I don't care if it makes you feel good. It pigeon holes you. It dates you. And it annoys me.
And variations don't work either. It's old media. It's medium hot. All it does is get on people's nerves.
As far as allowing every group who has an axe to grind that might be the least bit close to the issue at hand? Keep the message simple. Yes, we'd all like the Palestinians to have self-government, but keep them off the podium at an anti-Iraq war demonstration. It only confuses the issue.
I took away this image from watching on Saturday: Somebody dressed in a big winter coat, standing in front of the microphone yelling, with steam billowing out of their mouth. Spit, too. I know they were trying to rally those in attendance. It didn't look that way. It looked like something I wanted to avoid.
These demonstrations need to be re-thought and brought into the 21st Century.
This also appears on huffingtonpost.com
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Monday, January 29, 2007
Welcome to the Geezer Club
I would like to be the first to welcome the members of Gen-X to the Geezer's Club.
The current issue of "Betty's Attic: Where memories of yesterday live on today" arrived in my mail today. It featured various nostalgic ephemera: Elvis merchandise, a Marilyn Monroe Shoe Purse, a Lucy "Vitameatavegamin Wall Clock," a Betty Boop watch, a Reagan wall plaque, various WWII and Civil War items, a Mr. T bobble-head doll, stuff from The Munsters, The Beatles and John Wayne, a "Flower Power Car Magnet Set," and an assortment of vintage car models, among many other things. But on the "Sights & Sounds From The Past" page, next to some Elvis Poster Magnets and Grateful Dead merchandise was the "Kurt Cobain Figure."
Gen-Xers, you've finally made it.
The copy reads, "Generation-X-ers remember the first time they heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' It was a seminal moment for rock—grunge replaced 80s glitter and Kurt Cobain was at the forefront of a cultural transformation. This 7" tall vinyl action figure with acoustic guitar, chair, microphone and music stand captures the essence of Cobain based on a 1993 MTV Unplugged session."
It's twenty bucks.
And for Gen-X, I'm happy to say, "It's all over now, baby blue."
You now qualify for membership in the ranks of those you once scorned. Welcomin, bienvenue, welcome. We've been waiting for you.
Personally, I've been waiting for you since I heard your first selfish whine. Now that you're officially over the hill, do those little problems you were having back then seem so big? You thought you had problems then? Well, think how close you are to having your prostate swell up like a bowling ball.
You're going to be in the unenviable position of paying off the bills all of those Republicans ran up when you were off wandering around in your own muck. You couldn't be bothered to vote, of course, you were too busy being sad. At the same time you'll be counting the days until you have to pay for my nursing home bills. You'll be welcoming your Denny's senior discounts then, my friends.
Oh, it's a delicious moment.
When grunge was at its "peak" (or should I say, "depth") I remember saying, "Hey, call me when you get a real problem." Well, now you have one, more than one.
How are you going to handle this? Put on some Elliott Smith?
Face it, your hero has been reduced to a trivial action figure. No more valuable than Mr. Potato Head, who also costs twenty dollars. Or the Zorro figurine which costs a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY!
Are you finding yourself going out much less frequently and dozing off in front of the Daily Show? And not even getting to Colbert? Perhaps you can put your Kurt Cobain inaction figure on your nightstand.
See you in line at Denny's, dude.
This first appeared in The Oregonian on their op-ed page.
The current issue of "Betty's Attic: Where memories of yesterday live on today" arrived in my mail today. It featured various nostalgic ephemera: Elvis merchandise, a Marilyn Monroe Shoe Purse, a Lucy "Vitameatavegamin Wall Clock," a Betty Boop watch, a Reagan wall plaque, various WWII and Civil War items, a Mr. T bobble-head doll, stuff from The Munsters, The Beatles and John Wayne, a "Flower Power Car Magnet Set," and an assortment of vintage car models, among many other things. But on the "Sights & Sounds From The Past" page, next to some Elvis Poster Magnets and Grateful Dead merchandise was the "Kurt Cobain Figure."
Gen-Xers, you've finally made it.
The copy reads, "Generation-X-ers remember the first time they heard 'Smells Like Teen Spirit.' It was a seminal moment for rock—grunge replaced 80s glitter and Kurt Cobain was at the forefront of a cultural transformation. This 7" tall vinyl action figure with acoustic guitar, chair, microphone and music stand captures the essence of Cobain based on a 1993 MTV Unplugged session."
It's twenty bucks.
And for Gen-X, I'm happy to say, "It's all over now, baby blue."
You now qualify for membership in the ranks of those you once scorned. Welcomin, bienvenue, welcome. We've been waiting for you.
Personally, I've been waiting for you since I heard your first selfish whine. Now that you're officially over the hill, do those little problems you were having back then seem so big? You thought you had problems then? Well, think how close you are to having your prostate swell up like a bowling ball.
You're going to be in the unenviable position of paying off the bills all of those Republicans ran up when you were off wandering around in your own muck. You couldn't be bothered to vote, of course, you were too busy being sad. At the same time you'll be counting the days until you have to pay for my nursing home bills. You'll be welcoming your Denny's senior discounts then, my friends.
Oh, it's a delicious moment.
When grunge was at its "peak" (or should I say, "depth") I remember saying, "Hey, call me when you get a real problem." Well, now you have one, more than one.
How are you going to handle this? Put on some Elliott Smith?
Face it, your hero has been reduced to a trivial action figure. No more valuable than Mr. Potato Head, who also costs twenty dollars. Or the Zorro figurine which costs a HUNDRED AND SEVENTY!
Are you finding yourself going out much less frequently and dozing off in front of the Daily Show? And not even getting to Colbert? Perhaps you can put your Kurt Cobain inaction figure on your nightstand.
See you in line at Denny's, dude.
This first appeared in The Oregonian on their op-ed page.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Will the media revert to cowardice?
What will be interesting to see this evening is how much of a break the networks and news channels (not Fox News) give Bush when he's finished his hubris. Time after time, we've heard drivel and weak obsequies from the gathered reporters and pundits after a major Bush speech.
Will they reflect the polls and take the gloves off? We know Olbermann will. But in times like these, they have always bowed and scraped to the office and the power. It's one of the things that got us in this mess.
They may have enough cover now. They haven't gotten any more courageous, but when only 28% of the polled population supports Bush's war, the media have someplace to hide.
Today's news channels have programmed like this speech was the Super Bowl. I'm hoping John Madden will be there to telestrate as Bush reads. (As he reads someone else's words.)
What's the Vegas line on the outcome?
Will they reflect the polls and take the gloves off? We know Olbermann will. But in times like these, they have always bowed and scraped to the office and the power. It's one of the things that got us in this mess.
They may have enough cover now. They haven't gotten any more courageous, but when only 28% of the polled population supports Bush's war, the media have someplace to hide.
Today's news channels have programmed like this speech was the Super Bowl. I'm hoping John Madden will be there to telestrate as Bush reads. (As he reads someone else's words.)
What's the Vegas line on the outcome?
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