I'm thinking into my blog here, so bear with me...
So here I sit ripping songs (I'm doing some Rickie Lee Jones now), reading various editorials, blogs, etc. The specifics don't matter, but there's a common thread running through a lot of these, which involves pointing out inconsistencies between what one or another politician said at one point, and what he or she is saying now. Something else they'll do is point out when someone is telling something less than the full truth (a currently favorite pastime among those who think Dubya could use an enema for more than one reason).
Now I'm seeing nearly all of this in print, because TV news is crap and because I'm sitting here at my computer. However, many of the quotes referred to in these articles exist on video from speeches, press conferences, etc. As I sit pondering the state of the world, it also occurs to me that many Americans probably get their national/international news from TV. Certainly that's where many of these press conferences and debates take place.
So...
Imagine that someone, say a candidate for office, had at his fingertips a database of video clips to use in a debate or other venue where he might want to pull up evidence of some statement or another. It wouldn't be as extensive as Lexis/Nexis or other full-blown databases, but it could have a library of clips that might be relevant to expected topics. You wouldn't want to have to hunt for a clip in the middle of a debate anyway, so the library should err on the small side.
The idea is that this person (candidate, whatever) could easily have this library stored on a laptop and then pull it out at an opportune time to challenge his opponent with his own words, coming out of his own mouth. Sure it would be a stunt that would make folks in the opposite camp go ballistic (and the TV production people might freak for other reasons), but done right I imagine that it could also be immensely effective. After all, if you're on television it's one thing to say that your opponent said something, but quite another to actually show him saying it.
Posted by Jason at October 23, 2003 03:07 PM