Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirtboy
I've listened to press conferences by Presidents Eisenhower and all after. Some of them I liked, some of them I dis-liked. Only one of them was totally inept at public speaking. Guess Who?
Man, I'm on a roll this morning!
I'm gonna stop now.
DB
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That's too easy, Dirtboy. The handsdown champion of inept public speakers was Lyndon B. Johnson. At that time, he often read his televised addresses to the nation from typed pages. I saw him get his pages mixed up, and he began re-reading a page that he had just read. After re-reading about half a page, it suddenly dawned on him that the words sounded familiar, and an embarrassed smile crept across his face. His dilemma then was whether to stop and get his pages straightened out, or to continue as if nothing had happened, in the vain hope that nobody was listening. As I recall, he chose the latter course.
In those days, politicians weren't bludgeoned for years afterwards when they made a speaking gaffe. People understood that politicians are mere humans, with all the usual human frailties, and that anyone can make such mistakes, and that such mistakes have nothing to do with one's competence to serve as President. It was considered a cheap shot and dirty politics to dwell on such mistakes for more than a day or two, after which time the discussion reverted to more substantive issues. Democrats have refined gotcha politics to an art, and, unfortunately, Republicans are learning how to play the game as well.
It's too bad we have to listen to so much sillyness, while our representatives insist on passing legislation without adequate discussion and debate, that nobody has read. Anyone who plays the gotcha game ought to be ashamed of the harm they do to intelligent discourse.