The Final Farewell.....
It was a truly remarkable day, from morning in the East till Sunset in the West, as I'm sure most Americans who saw any part of the final ceremonies for President Reagan will agree. Julie, Jack and I caught significant portions of the final day of remembrance as we went about our day in and out of the house.
We, all three together, started watching the services from the National Cathedral and when I had to go to the office, I concluded by listening on Internet radio and then from my car as I went to meet them for lunch. I turned on the car radio just in time to hear the hymn "Mansions of the Lord" from the film We Were Soldiers being played at the cathedral. It was a personal connection to the services for me....having met the song writer [movie producer Randy Wallace] and knowing what the hymn means to many of my friends whom the film was about. Very special.
Julie and I have just turned off the TV tonight after watching the burial services from the Reagan Presidential library in California. A sunset ceremony just as the President himself had planned. And one with a more personal character which was a fitting way to end the week after all the state affairs had been concluded. It was just beautiful and a little strange with heads of state mixed with the likes of Bo Derek and Scott Baio. But I'm very glad that we got to hear the words spoken by the Presidents children; it put a nice personal finishing touch on the week and to be honest, my first true feelings of genuine sadness about his passing.
What I really want to comment on was the TV coverage. For all it's legions of faults, this is one thing that television is still good at far above all other media. And of which there is far too little. Involving the nation in a live event that both entranced and educated viewers without the need for debate or political correctness is something that is almost non-existant today..how sad.
And if you didn't watch the coverage of the ceremonies on Fox News, I offer that you were watching the wrong channel. It was so astounding that I made a comment to Julie about it this morning. I watched at least an hour of the ceremonies in Washington before I left for work and what I noticed was that there was no commentary, no talking heads blathering on with the assumption that the public was just to stupid to grasp the details. Fox was just letting us watch the events in real time without explanation.
I found no need to switch channels to the other big networks, but I can only imagine what they were offering. Peter Jennings feeling inadequate if there was more than 30 seconds of silence, Peter abhorbs silence. Peter telling us what kind of tires are on the hearse, Peter explaining who Lady Thatcher is and why she is important. I can just hear Tom Brokaw droning on about why Ronnie Reagan, from the Greatest Generation, was born to be a leader.
What Fox News did was just to lend us their cameras, allow us to be there and to think our own thoughts without distraction. For this I thank them. Is it any wonder why their ratings are high. Perhaps it's because they don't assume that we're morons incapable of viewing the boob tube without a constant flow of explanation.
A memorable day and week indeed and apparently others thought so too. After the services were concluded several of the commentators agreed that this could be compared to the Kennedy funeral so many years ago. I concur and have to, for once, thank television for it's coverage...or rather the Fox News Network.
It was a truly remarkable day, from morning in the East till Sunset in the West, as I'm sure most Americans who saw any part of the final ceremonies for President Reagan will agree. Julie, Jack and I caught significant portions of the final day of remembrance as we went about our day in and out of the house.
We, all three together, started watching the services from the National Cathedral and when I had to go to the office, I concluded by listening on Internet radio and then from my car as I went to meet them for lunch. I turned on the car radio just in time to hear the hymn "Mansions of the Lord" from the film We Were Soldiers being played at the cathedral. It was a personal connection to the services for me....having met the song writer [movie producer Randy Wallace] and knowing what the hymn means to many of my friends whom the film was about. Very special.
Julie and I have just turned off the TV tonight after watching the burial services from the Reagan Presidential library in California. A sunset ceremony just as the President himself had planned. And one with a more personal character which was a fitting way to end the week after all the state affairs had been concluded. It was just beautiful and a little strange with heads of state mixed with the likes of Bo Derek and Scott Baio. But I'm very glad that we got to hear the words spoken by the Presidents children; it put a nice personal finishing touch on the week and to be honest, my first true feelings of genuine sadness about his passing.
What I really want to comment on was the TV coverage. For all it's legions of faults, this is one thing that television is still good at far above all other media. And of which there is far too little. Involving the nation in a live event that both entranced and educated viewers without the need for debate or political correctness is something that is almost non-existant today..how sad.
And if you didn't watch the coverage of the ceremonies on Fox News, I offer that you were watching the wrong channel. It was so astounding that I made a comment to Julie about it this morning. I watched at least an hour of the ceremonies in Washington before I left for work and what I noticed was that there was no commentary, no talking heads blathering on with the assumption that the public was just to stupid to grasp the details. Fox was just letting us watch the events in real time without explanation.
I found no need to switch channels to the other big networks, but I can only imagine what they were offering. Peter Jennings feeling inadequate if there was more than 30 seconds of silence, Peter abhorbs silence. Peter telling us what kind of tires are on the hearse, Peter explaining who Lady Thatcher is and why she is important. I can just hear Tom Brokaw droning on about why Ronnie Reagan, from the Greatest Generation, was born to be a leader.
What Fox News did was just to lend us their cameras, allow us to be there and to think our own thoughts without distraction. For this I thank them. Is it any wonder why their ratings are high. Perhaps it's because they don't assume that we're morons incapable of viewing the boob tube without a constant flow of explanation.
A memorable day and week indeed and apparently others thought so too. After the services were concluded several of the commentators agreed that this could be compared to the Kennedy funeral so many years ago. I concur and have to, for once, thank television for it's coverage...or rather the Fox News Network.
