November 2, 2005

Stark Contrast

Wasn't it Nixon's pal Mitchell who said, "Watch what we do. Don't listen to what we say."

This morning, I was watching what Karl Rove's boss was doing. Clearly, Rove is so distracted by the prospect of wearing an orange suit that he's not attending properly to W's public image.

So there we are, in the middle of the morning, America watching the cable news channels, hearing the story of Rosa Parks - who epitomized this country in terms of demonstrating the Power of the Individual - and viewing the scene of the celebration of her extraordinary life....

And then the cameras cut to W and the missus greeting Prince Charles and his wife on the manicured lawn in front of the stately plantation-style columns of the White House.

Cut then from the stiff handshakes and sterile photo op in DC, back to the Rosa Parks love-in where Bill Clinton was being embraced by all the regular folk in Detroit...genuine energy and connectivity vs. the man in the bubble.

What an incredible contrast. We were looking at the two sides of the American Revolution in close juxtaposition. And the so-called leader of America had jumped back to the other side with all of its insensitivity about the true feelings and needs of human beings.

A stunning moment in communications.