FW: proof of age -Way OTT, with RMN content

James Mullan james at MULLAN.UK.COM
Wed Feb 9 09:21:38 UTC 2000


At 02:04 08/02/2000 -0800, Joseph Carson wrote:
>Nancy Elliott wrote (on Fri, Feb 4, 2000, 11:49 PM):  The Challenger
explosion
[snip]
>Nancy, thank you for bringing the start of the Gulf War up! -- That was a
news
[snip]
>that bring an immediate knee jerk reaction from everyone under the age of
[snip]
>the images of Nixon flashing the "victory/peace" sign at the portal of Air
[snip]

Images of Nixon, there's a source of knee jerk reaction for this boy.
Picture this, it's 1952, I'm six years old, and TV has come to Omagh, N.
Ireland, a new-fangled novelty restricted to the technologically advanced
of the day - bit like early 286s - and a rota is established for visitors
to the house with the first TV in Omagh to come see this amazing
technology. We get about a half hour apiece, then have to move for the next
viewers.

My turn came, and, guess what, I get to see Nixon's "Checkers" speech,
repeated on a flickering, snowy BBC feed. The very first thing I see on a
TV in my life.

No boasting, I figured even at 6 years old, the jerk was lying then, and
nothing he ever said from then to the day he died shook that conviction.
(Such prescience, in one so young ;-). )

And then came Watergate. The greatest political drama of this or any life.
What an obsession, what wonderful dicta it gave the language. Aw, such fond
memories.



More information about the Ads-l mailing list