The first thing I notice is how Clinton looks like he's "preparing himself" for his televised appearance.
Not just the makeup, but also the distant look on his face - quite common for anyone who has a bit of stage fright or performance worries. He's
calming his nerves by detaching himself from his surrounding and all the hubub of a television studio going on in the background.
It may have been a live recording, for all we know...that's a lot of pressure for anyone to be under.
I've always been of the opinion that our political figureheads are just that - figureheads.
Intermediaries between the speech writers and the populaces - the good old "talking head".
Someone who got the position because they manifested a "quality" that reflected what the people expected or wanted at that point in time.
Is the whole administration rigged? Well, anyone knows that the people running for presidency have to have:
1.) "The Look". No one is going to take a slovenly figurehead seriously.
2.) The ability to orate convincingly. This doesn't mean they write their own speeches - in fact, most president's in the past several decade have
interns and speechwriters who handle this for them. In fact, a friend of mine from high school is currently working on Capitol Hill doing just
that.
3.) Something about themselves (history, hobbies...even pets) that a large percentage of Americans can "identify with".
Engineered? You bet.
Intentionally insidious? Probably not.
One reason most educated and intellectual people will find offense to most of the presentations of notable public figures is that we can sense they
aren't speaking from their own perspectives. They're cranking out prewritten speeches, scripts, and in the time of on-air interviews and debates
where a teleprompter is not available - you can see them fighting to make sure they say all the "right" things.
This can be very stressful for one who may be accustomed to being nothing more than a photo-op kind of guy or gal, with a pocketload of advisors,
writers and so forth no where in sight.
Hence, like the gentleman in the last few minutes of the clip, you get a psychobabble quality of a speech or defense - they're struggling to make
sense of issues they aren't trained to understand.
Is it because they're "mindless puppets"?
Nah - it's because they're just regular human beings trying to make the best of a situation they don't have complete control over.
It's sad though, that in today's commercialized entertainment age we place so much importance on those first three points (mentioned earlier) and
completely neglect the ability of the potential figurehead to actually be a full representative of the values of the administration, the country and
it's peoples, and the master of all important issues brought up during his/her term in office.
In fact - the amount of stress these people go through being in the public eye almost 24-7 (not to mention sensationalist reporters hounding your
every word, decision and step) is enough to dissociate just about anyone.
A large percentage of people expects them to be ubermen, good looking, well spoken, and a virtual encyclopedia on every nuance of world policy.
Such a thing is darn near impossible.
It's just a shame more people don't step up to the plate in their own lives before casting dispersions on others - regardless of their political
standing.
No one is perfect.
Not even the President.
In regards to the Barbara Bush clips - those could have been taken from a single sitting, takes that didn't "make the cut".
I do enjoy the nice "skull and bones station identification" in between each segment. In fact, I'd love that as a desktop.
[edit on 12-4-2007 by GENERAL EYES]