I have long believed that we have become a people of appearance and not substance. Each year that passes brings us more and more to the point of a Nation that let's others filter everything for us.
We buried my father-in-law this spring, and he and I spent many hours discussing the changes during his life time. He talked of the times when the news was reported (and you needed to trust the source), but is was lists of facts and figures with the editorials being kept seperate. He also talked of the papers having equal space for reports on each candidate running. He was frurstrated by the fact that our media would use sound bites and not give an entire speech, that they would report on one candidate but not the other, and that they would paint the picture as positive and negative in a regular article.
My father-in-law reinforced my belief that today we elect spokesmen and not leaders. We want the beautiful, slim fit body, stylish clothing, smooth talking person that can tell us what we want to hear. We don't want the true leader that will tell us what we need.
Over the weekend I watched a series of shows on the History Channel call The Presidents. If nothing else it made me wonder how many of these men would have been elected in this day of broadcast media and disrespectfulness. We have had fat people, bean poles, stutterers, lispers, cripples, drinkers, smokers, widowers, balding heads, clothes horses, and slobs. I am not as good at history as I would love to be, but I found it in interesting that, according to the view of The History Channel, when ever we had the most trouble it was a societal misfit that came in and pulled us through.
President George W. Bush, he's not a bad looking guy (at least compared to me), he is not a smooth speaker (sometimes even a babler) , but have you ever heard him try to get a message across and left wondering what he meant? NO ... he does have a way with basic language and gestures. Do I always agree with his ways? No, but I admire a man that sticks to his beliefs and does not just duck and run for political future (can we all say Rev. Wright?).