IS IT LIVE OR IS IT MEMOREX?

Back during the Beijing Olympics much was made of the Chinese government’s digital enhancement of the opening ceremony’s fireworks and the dubbing of the voice of the angelic child that sang at the festivities. Pundits railed at the PRC’s obsession with controlling the images the world saw and heard. Now we learn that the Obama camp has taken a page from the Chinese and altered the broadcast that the world viewed on their television screens

The inaugural committee took great pains to make sure that the festivities would span the entire range of American culture, featuring artists from rapper Jay-C to cellist Yo Yo Ma. The latter played a piece specially composed by movie theme legend John Williams (Jaws) in a quartet including violinist Itzhak Perlman, pianist Gabriella Montero and clarinetist Anthony McGill, four of the most distinguished classical musicians of our day. The New York Times reports that only a handful of people sitting near the quartet heard the real performance. The remainder of the 1.8 million people in the crowd assembled on the Washington Mall and the 38 million Americans gathered around their TV sets were listening to a studio recording of the piece.

Obamabots quickly rationalized the dishonest performance as absolutely necessary because of the cold, even though the Marine Band and the Navy Band Sea Chanters were able to perform under the less than perfect temperatures. We don’t know if the decision to dupe the public was made by the musicians, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, or the Obama handlers. We do know that the 1.8 million people, who waited hours in the cold to witness this President who they so desperately want to believe in, deserve honesty, that the 38 million Americans watching deserve the truth, and 300 million US residents demand integrity in their President.

Now you may think that this is a minor, superficial thing. A generation addicted to the IPod may not be aware that artifical amplification is never used in classical music. We, however, think that this is just one more example of a man who has carefully presented a manufactured image to the electorate, a man who is obsessed with controlling everything the public sees and hears. We think it is fitting that this controversy centers on music written by the most famous movie composer of all time. The question is are we going to have a real President or just a man that plays one on TV?