Well, no ex-presidents. My second hand source was a dud. That's what I get for putting any credence into a member of the local Republican cadre. I’ve been “disinformed”.
For one thing, Bill Clinton was in Oklahoma City for the memorial in honor of the tenth anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building by Anglo Christian extremists. It was more appropriate that he be there than here.
I did however see two potential future presidents, Illinois Senators Dick Durbin and Barack Obama.
Overall, the day went well.
The crowds inside the Springfield Green Zone were not overwhelming and polite to all the speakers. Security was tight but not overbearing.
All the speeches were kept appropriately short, if a bit predictable.
I did have a problem with Dick Durbin’s Dead Lincoln joke. I don’t have the transcript in front of me but it was something along the lines of why did the Jewish woman think Lincoln was Jewish. A: because his name was Abraham and he was shot in the temple. He didn’t actually present it as a joke but as part of an antidotal story. The effect was the same and I thought it a bit tasteless. Dick you’re better than that.
Speaking of tasteless, I actually saw one man in the audience walking around with a Confederate flag t-shirt. I don’t know if it was a political statement or, given the way hew looked, it was the least smelly shirt on his floor this morning.
It was interesting to me that Brian Lamb of C-SPAN fame was one of the speakers. Now, he was there to introduce the winner of a C-SPAN sponsored essay contest (the winner, Mihan Lee, read her essay later). Still, it was all politicians and one media outlet. They seem to be blending into one organism more and more these days.
President Bush was the final speaker of the morning. He started out very slow and soft-spoken. From where we were standing the sound wasn’t all that good but I could hear everyone. But not Bush, for some reason. We relocated and I could hear him better. There just wasn’t much energy in his voice at first. It did get stronger the longer he spoke, however.
Naturally, Bush couldn’t resist comparing himself to Lincoln.
In a small way, I can relate to the rail splitter from out West, because he has
a way of speaking that was not always appreciated by the newspapers back East.
Yes, you clear brush on your fake Texas ranch for the cameras but you are not a rail splitter or the modern equivalent. And damn those well-spoken Eastern (read, Liberal Elite) newspaper fellas.
After standing for hours we came home at and rested before going back out to tour the Museum itself.
We didn’t have time to take it all in this afternoon but I generally liked what I saw. I agree with Dr. John Simon’s assessment that it has a touch of Disney to it. But so what. It seems to work as a medium for engaging the general public and perhaps imparting some historical information to those who might not care to seek it out otherwise.
I most liked the historical artifacts. I think its long over due to have a central place for viewing Lincoln memorabilia. It’s good to know, too, that the museum will include temporary exhibits from time to time allowing for everyone to see Lincoln items that belong to other collections.
The thing I liked least was the mock TV control room showing a fake news show hosted by real news guy Tim Russert. Russert was, not very convincingly, trying to portray the 1860 election on modern television terms. It was complete with modern looking TV political ads. I just wasn’t buying it. Introducing television in to the past like that just doesn’t feel right. We have Russert speaking and dressed for 2005 with pictures of Lincoln as he was in 1860. It just doesn’t work. Lose it and use the space for something else.
That said, it was a good day, all told.
UPDATE: The Chicago Tribune's Ellen Warren blogs about today better than me. Damn.
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