From: tim@physics.orst.edu (Tim Mefford)
Newsgroups: alt.peeves
Subject: Re: Bicycle Peeves
Keywords: Losers (the voters)
Date: 15 Oct 92 07:36:02 GMT
Reply-To: tim@physics.orst.edu
Distribution: alt
Organization: Up the,

In article <ldpdp9INNshb@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM>, geoffm@purplehaze.Corp.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller) writes:
|> 
|> In article <1992Oct14.165110.1125@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> (Bill Berbenich) writes:
|> 
|> >Peeve:   The fact that the admiral's stammering may lead some people to
|> >         believe that his mind is somehow not fully engaged.
|> 
|> Unfortunately, that's the impression I'm sure a lot of people got.  This
|> bothers me, because I'm sure it's not accurate.  Stockdale struck me as
|> an extremely educated, intelligent and down-to-earth person whose mind
|> just moved too fast for his mouth to to be able to keep up, and who isn't
|> at his best in a debate setting.
|> 
Congratulations to Bill on getting on TV.  Watching the debate I was painfully
embarrassed for the Admiral.  I've given speeches while ill prepared, I don't 
envy him having to live through that on national television.  I couldn't help
but feel that he deserved more respect than he was being given.

|> On the other hand, I thought Gore came across as too slick and deliberate;
|> with his slow, carefully enunciated speech and expansive gestures, he acted
|> as though he was narrating an educational film for third graders.  I found 
|> this subtle condescension annoying.

Gore's performance struck me most for the odd tone of voice you mention here.  I
think the Disney audioanimatronic Al Gore would have come across as more human.
Both Gore and Quayle were guilty of functioning as well dressed parrots.  You 
almost here the tape rewinding in their heads to play back answers rehearsed with
coaches long before the debate.  These people have taken the tradition of ducking
questions to new heights.  Reagan/Bush demonstrated the effectiveness of ignoring 
the moderator's question and delivering the pat answer.  They've taken it too far.
Even the stupid public can see the huge smokescreens being thrown into the air.

|> Quayle was guilty of a far greater crime, though: his persistent interrup-
|> tion.  Nobody ever won a debate by shouting down his opponent.  Shut the 
|> hell up, Dan!  

This point I disagree with you on.  People have won debates by shouting down
their opponents.  At least that is true for this type of debate, where the public's
opinion is decided as much by demeanor, who was on screen the longest, and joke
writers as anything else.  Both Quayle and Gore realized this and were blatently 
trying to dominate the air time as well as position themselves to get in the last word.

I found my own reaction interesting in that the confidence with which a line was 
delivered weighted my initial impression of its effectiveness as much as its 
intelligence.

-- 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"The ripples of sand at his feet suddenly looked like the motionless
 crests of waves.  Supposing they were sound waves, what kind of 
 music would they give? he wondered.  Maybe even a human being could
 sing such a song ... if tongs were driven into his nose and slimy
 blood stopped up his ears ... if his teeth were broken one by one 
 with hammer blows, and splinters jammed into his urethra ... if a
 vulva were cut away and sewn onto his eyelids.  It might resemble
 cruelty, and then again it might be a little different."
				  -Kobo Abe _The Woman_in_the_Dunes_	
------Tim Mefford  tim@physics.orst.edu-----------------------------
Newsgroups: alt.peeves,misc.misc