Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Open post: White House as a stage for national mourning
The White House has begun serving as a kind of stage for national mourning, as it has many times in the past. It is at these times, I think, that it proves least capable of fulfilling its duty—especially now, when the Press Briefing Room is still being renovated and press conferences must be held in the East Room or outside, and the weather is not good enough to use the Rose Garden. There used to be inadequate facilities for monitoring breaking news, but I think the new Sit Room probably has remedied that.
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There's a sizable auditorium in the Executive Office Bldg., no? Why does the gaggle of the press have to tramp through the White House or hole up in the west terrace? Are they entitled by divine right to virtually rub their shoulders against the Oval Office doors? I know they think so.
ReplyDeleteIsn't the interim PBR in the OEOB?
ReplyDeleteI believe that's where they usually go. But it's not just a press theater that I'm talking about. Think of the way the Capitol steps are used to create a press gathering with a majestic backdrop. Ford's funeral in the rotunda... Compare that with a medal of freedom ceremony in the East Room, which always seems a bit like graduation in the school gymnasium. Perhaps the WH trades grandeur for intimacy, but it's on these occasions that it shows most.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree that the White House is ment to be a rather intimate place, i mean, if not they would have named it the white palace and have some imposing facade built. That's the difference between an imperalist and a democracy - ah ha! i can imagine Washington saying that!
ReplyDeleteBut seriously, as a stage for national mourning - i think the flag at half staff atop the WH is enough a symbol of that... God Bless VT.