Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar
Stand by Us
RECEIVED Tue., June 15, 2004
Dear Editor,
With all this idolatry going on this week for a man (he was just a man, right?), one can be easily confused by the orgy of news coverage and blather about how "great" he was. At first I thought I was watching Stand By Me when I saw all those sheep lining up in D.C. and California to see a body. It's funny because I hear pundits and all the other idiots that are called "analysts" and "experts" spew about how strange North Korea and Russia are when they honor and preserve their dead leaders through song or public display. The obvious irony in this "event" (drug addict Limbaugh's words, probably OxyContin induced) is that the networks will devote news time to a lone flag-draped coffin for an entire week, when more than 800 flag-draped coffins, and counting, have come home over the last year, not one being televised "live." Thank God I have local news outlets like KEYE for giving me the pulse of Austin viewers about all this nonsense. I have never felt more nauseous than when I saw a report from the State of Texas Museum and the "journalist" was interviewing middle schoolers, yes, middle schoolers, about what they thought of Ronny. I am no journalist, and I don't claim to be one in any form, but I would think it's probably more newsworthy to interview someone who was alive when this guy was in office rather than someone who wasn't even conceived yet much less one who can't vote. In closing, I can only quote the truly great Bill Hicks by saying that Reagan has finally achieved his "self created myth" stature.
With all this idolatry going on this week for a man (he was just a man, right?), one can be easily confused by the orgy of news coverage and blather about how "great" he was. At first I thought I was watching Stand By Me when I saw all those sheep lining up in D.C. and California to see a body. It's funny because I hear pundits and all the other idiots that are called "analysts" and "experts" spew about how strange North Korea and Russia are when they honor and preserve their dead leaders through song or public display. The obvious irony in this "event" (drug addict Limbaugh's words, probably OxyContin induced) is that the networks will devote news time to a lone flag-draped coffin for an entire week, when more than 800 flag-draped coffins, and counting, have come home over the last year, not one being televised "live." Thank God I have local news outlets like KEYE for giving me the pulse of Austin viewers about all this nonsense. I have never felt more nauseous than when I saw a report from the State of Texas Museum and the "journalist" was interviewing middle schoolers, yes, middle schoolers, about what they thought of Ronny. I am no journalist, and I don't claim to be one in any form, but I would think it's probably more newsworthy to interview someone who was alive when this guy was in office rather than someone who wasn't even conceived yet much less one who can't vote. In closing, I can only quote the truly great Bill Hicks by saying that Reagan has finally achieved his "self created myth" stature.
James Chapman
