A President of All the People

In the grand scheme of things, and particularly in a critical election year, the issue of presidential audiences is probably not of the greatest importance. Except that where and to whom a president speaks tells us a lot about how he views his relationship to the people he is oath-bound to serve. Before we see the last of the incumbent president, I hope someone takes the trouble to review all the public speeches the president, and for that matter the vice-president, and for that matter the entire cabinet, have given and the nature of the audiences to whom they spoke. The point is simple: this administration's officials from the top down do not speak to general audiences representing a cross-section of the American people.

This Bush administration has systematically, and cynically, chosen to speak only to audiences whose acceptance and acceptability are guaranteed. Without any research whatsoever, and based only on observation of the staged backdrops to presidential and other speeches, I am willing to wager that George W. Bush and virtually his entire cabinet have never, during this entire administration, spoken in a forum whose doors were open to all.

Think back. Can you remember a presidential speech where the audience was not hand-picked? My guess is this paranoid manipulation and hand-selection of favorable audiences dates to the second Nixon administration, where the president became so unpopular he could not appear before ordinary Americans. This, of course, was also the period that gave rise to the Cheney-Rumsfeld, Addington-Yoo, blue state-red state carving up of America into us versus them and the anti-Constitutional "unitary executive" imperial consolidation of power.

If you are out to set up an imperial presidency and an imperial foreign policy, you are probably well advised to speak only to audiences of carefully selected robotic ditto-heads, those who surrendered objectivity, critical judgment, and reflective thought a long time ago and who will chant "stay the course" and "support the president" every time stage manager Rove flashes the cue. But if you still believe, as I do, that we live under a Constitutional government where are leaders are elected to serve all the people under a system of checks and balances and are to be held accountable in every regard to the people they serve, then we should demand leaders with the courage to face all their constituents on all occasions and address all relevant issues of the day.

By the way, I also don't recall even one press story in the past seven years calling into question this undemocratic practice of imperial audience staging.

Comments

[Bob Egan]

Remember the people he had arrested for trying to exercise their (used-to-be) right to free speach.

I have written (some time ago) to my representatives asking if he and the others should be asked to pay for their transportation etc. when attending these private political meetings.

Does anyone know what happened to that soldier that had the balls to challenge Rummy?

[georgex]

Thanks, Gary Hart, for noting this staging of the president. I have often wondered how the people behind him in the setting could keep a straight face. Obviously, they must be carefully selected dittoheads even the well dressed ones. Of course, the military groups are hesitant to burst out with laughter or a smile at his bumbling.

[Truthortradition]

Gary, If you want further proof that tyranny rages in America, try putting a Democratic sticker on your car in Gilbert, AZ where you are surrounded by Mormon zealots.
You won't go one mile before they point their holy fingers at you and scream, "Devil." The only thing that makes them madder is if you put both a Democratic sticker on your car and a Hillary for President sticker below it.
It truly gets their goat.
Sure, the Mormons don't practice poligamy anymore, they just worship the man, Joseph Smith, who said no man could go to the celestial kingdom unless he had at least three whores, namely wifes. The more whores you have in the form of wifes, the better the kingdom. The thought of one of those whores serving as President knocks the wind out of them.
Many of my neighbors think Romney is a phrophet who will bring more people to their faith. They have no clue what truly lies beneath this candidates agenda. They don't listen to reason or logic. They are brainwashed from birth and follow blind conviction as a way of life. It' enough to make me insane.

[pointblank]

Senator Hart ... thank you for an excellent article. Now retired, I spent nearly 40 years in communications, 10 in Washington. I am constantly amazed at the success of the GOP to wound and destroy their opposition. Yes, in large part aided and abetted by the media. America, this is deadly serious. In my view, the decline of objective journalism started when large corporations began to buy up news networks as well as start cable channels devoted to 24 hour cycles of mostly "celebrity junk news" Personal attacks and scandals served as decoys to get the audiences away from the "real news of the day." Investigative reporting died. And America, it is our fault that we lay back, had fun and let it happen.

I am deeply troubled that we have allowed ourselves to be so openly manipulated. We've sacrificed our civility, our souls and our freedoms by letting it happen. Bush has even been able to assemble his own mercenary army (approx. 180,000) in Iraq on our dollar.

Senator Hart, please write again and offer any suggestions you might have. We need to light fires of protest in deed, not rants on the Internet as we've all done here. Rants are too quiet...pe­rhaps more real noise is needed. Thanks

[Soulsurfer]

The MSM is controlled by and for the status quo. If they wanted to get an 'unvarnished' view, they'd lose their access. If they squawk about the actual lies, faulty logic, and straw man platitudes, FOX goes on the offensive. W isn't a patient man, and it pisses him off when someone, ANYONE, disagrees with him. Therefore, everything is carefully staged. He's gotten excellent with a prompter, and if he can keep his smug viciousness under control, he can almost be made to look old-timey-­down-homey­.

By the way, why didn't Gary run this time? I think he'd make a great prez.

[georgex]

Thanks, Gary Hart, for noting this staging of the president. I have often wondered how the people behind him in the setting could keep a straight face. Obviously, they must be carefully selected dittoheads even the well dressed ones. Of course, the military groups are hesitant to burst out with laughter or a smile at his bumbling.

[georgex]

Thanks, Gary Hart, for noting this staging of the president. I have often wondered how the people behind him in the setting could keep a straight face. Obviously, they must be carefully selected dittoheads even the well dressed ones. Of course, the military groups are hesitant to burst out with laughter or a smile at his bumbling.

[llozano]

This is not unique to the Republicans or to this administration. Just look at some of the debates that have taken place and those that have not. Candidates on both sides have chosen to speak or not at forums where they were sure the audience had some sympathetic relationship to their views or they refused to speak to audiences that were considered hostile. They are choosing what choir they want to address. I would hope that once in office a Democrat, if elected will speak to all americans in any venue with no restrictions on who is there. To do otherwise would be to continue the staged photo opps that make up the bulk of this President's speeches.

[Arleang]

George W. Bush is president to those who agree with him, to everyone else he is king, decider-in-chief, ruler.

His appearances absolutely must be staged. If the rabble were allowed in, the guards might need to shoot someone on camera.

[Not Blind]

This administration can't face the public or ordinary citizens. They do not want to hear any objections to their agenda. They would not accept solid factual evidence from the FBI that an attack was imminent before 9/11. To hype the fear, anthrax was sent out all over the country, which was found to have come from US military bases. They relied on "Curveball" to cherry-pick their "intel" as a pretext to the war in Iraq, rather than UN weapons inspectors, the report from Joe Wilson (a US diplomat), who found NO evidence Iraq was purchasing yellow cakes or uranium. When Wilson's facts were reported and published, the administration outed his wife (a CIA agent), and dismissed him. When Levine recently underwent water-boarding to find out first-hand what the experience was like, as acting Attorney General, he concluded it indeed was torture and so stated. The administration got rid of him. The GAO concluded last summer, the administration's benchmarks (justification for the surge) promised had not been met. The administration simply stated their own benchmarks were too harsh, and declared most of them had been met, even though the GAO stated only 3 of 18 were achieved.
This administration has never cared about the TRUTH. Intelligence and information (in reports or memos) is hand-picked to serve their agenda. There's no need to verify facts, just change or make it fall in line with their pre-conceived notions so it accomodates their agenda. They've already got enough information on what's going on around the world. They only look for what suits their political, partisan and greedy purposes to air publicly. The rest gets buried in secrecy, distorted with lies, or the folks who have it get put out.

[Truthortradition]

Gary, This is just more proof that tyranny abounds in the good ole US of A. As a retired journalist, I realized long ago that this administration hand-picked its audiences, just like the dictators in China do, which is why I am so amazed that the Republican oil barons succeed to this day in convincing the general public that it's the journalists and the Democrats who support communism.
I've also realized for quite sometime now that the Republican oil barons are also mimicking the Middle Eastern dictators who misuse religion to gain power but who truly only worship oil.
That's why I'm hoping the Democrats, for once, will not implode by attacking one another for the sake of political gain. Edwards is now on my bad list for his attacks against Hillary. United we Stand, Divided we Fall.

[Susanholmes]

Dead on, Gary. Well Said.

[bleek]

I took a joyous walk about.

And at each and every turn.

I stated simply, 'This is my free speech zone!'

But it wasn't long before I took some forbidden turn.

And was clubbed, tazed and kicked.

I knew not of the emperor's passing presence. How wrong to assume that my neighborhood was safe.

Woe to all rights but for the first.
_______
BTW, it was at the 2004 Dem convention that the first 'Free Speech Zone' in a steel cage was originated. This is not a red thing, it's a DC thing.

[coloneblog]

Senator, The Cheney/bush Administration is not a government; they're a marketing agency for "Big Oil," "Big Pharma," "Big Coal," "Big Insurance," "Big Banking," and "Everything, Big Corporate.­" They've staged everything to include the "good ole boy" backdrop for the media at bush's Crawford ranch; you know, the delapidated old barn and hey rake. Cheney/bush has never had a plan or a strategy on anything foreign or domestic; since coming to power, their lone objective has been to make the rich-richer and the poor-poorer. To that extent, they've been a tremendous success. I hope you're right and that the American voting public starts to really think and then selects a new government that speaks to all of the people. I'll be watching and listening.

[ekelly]

You are absolutely right and its been noticed but not very publicized. All his audiences are vetted. You have to sign up in advance to get in and if they don't like you you dont get in. WHen the President landed in a helpicpter at a small airport in my town, they closed off the whole are and sent protesters 1 block away from any entrance. They routed his motorcade away from where the protestors were. There was a small local press coverage, but that was it. They have suppressed any kind of open forum, and of course his favorite forums for 60-70 % of his appearances are the Troops, who have to salute. What bs