Political Prompter Persecution Ploy Plotz: Steve Womack, Defunder of the People

The Arkansas Times' Max Brantley reports (from a reported acquaintance's blog) that U.S. Representative Steve Womack has dropped his pursuit of de-funding Obama's teleprompter, which is somehow eyeballed at $5 (m)illion dollars.

Representative Womack reportedly says he's dropping this campaign because he can't get an actual cost of the service and equipment, and in addition...

We're asking people to do more with less. And I think the president ought to lead by example. He is already a very gifted speaker and I think that's one platform he could do without.  -- U.S. REPRESENTATIVE STEVE WOMACK

If you look at Obama speaking with or without the prompter, aesthetically it doesn't make much difference.  He thinks in parentheticals, with lots of commas, like this sentence, and that isn't going to end, any time, soon, so you'll never really know just when those sentences, are going to end, even ones, like this.

Moreover, any time anyone is asking people to make do with less (which appears to be a current talking point) it seems prudent to keep the other eye open for who's going to be profiting from all this "making do with less".  High food prices precipitated food-commodities bubbles, which precipitated the revolutions in the Mideast.

While World Prompter does not have an official opinion on hyper-monetizing commodities, revolutions, talking points, or political parties, we are glad that this bit of political grandstanding about Obama's teleprompter is over.

World Prompter loves communication, and is in favor of taking away all teleprompters from all politicians, to let politics drift back into the hands of talented orators who at least were capable of being lyrical and having a good memory.  Imagine memory as a requisite for the practice of politics.

The British House of Commons offers many spirited examples of un-teleprompted political exchange:

So until U.S. lawmakers are willing to really take the gloves off - in this case, the teleprompter - let's let fair be fair. 

 

How to Spin a Prompter

The New York Observer's David Freedlander reports Biden taking the heat off of Obama's teleprompter.


Freedlander reports:


Vice President Joe Biden spoke at a $500 a head fundraiser for 250 big-wig Democratic donors today at the midtown Sheraton, hosted by east side Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, and made a few cracks...
[...]
Biden spoke mostly extemporaneously, and stopped midway through his speech and asked that the teleprompters flanking the podium come down.

"I am not using this thing. If you want to put it down, it's ok by me," he said. "You know Barack said, excuse me, the President said, 'Joe is learning to make a speech with a teleprompter and I am learning to do one without a teleprompter."'

Very clever and humble way to deal with the situation. Takes the heat off the legislation to defund the President's prompter, and makes light of Biden's loose-cannon nature. 

You know you want one...