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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Wednesday, June 08, 2005 One President and another Clarence watches the History Channel on television pretty much 24 hours a day, dozing on and off through day and night alike. I happened to be in his bedroom yesterday evening during a documentary on the Three Mile Island near-catastrophe, and sat down to watch for a while. At the point when I came in, the narrator was speaking of the increasing concern by reporters at the site over whether they should be staying to cover the developing story, or "running for their lives." I was struck by the account of how President Jimmy Carter, an engineer with years of experience in naval nuclear reactors, sent his personal representative to the site.An online source that I came across, the HomeTown Channel (website for television stations KHBS and KHOG) describes what happened then:Fortunately, into the picture came the calming force of Harold Denton, the NRC's director of the Office of Reactor License and Regulation."I saw my job as a technical job and I was surprised as anyone that it evolved into the spokesman role," Denton said.Denton stepped into the media spotlight by accident. He was calm and straightforward, the exact opposite of [Metropolitan Edison spokesman] Herbein, and gained the trust of the army of reporters covering the story. Above everything else, Denton was President Jimmy Carter's personal man on site."I had this magic number at the White House in the situation room and anything I needed that the government could provide. I could call this number and they would take care of it," Denton said.Denton's job was to work closely with Gov. Dick Thornburgh and to bring order to the situation. He was to call Carter directly at least twice a day."Once in the morning and once in the evening and anytime anything significant happened," Denton said.It's hard not to compare this on-the-spot leadership (President Carter visited the site himself not long after Denton arrived) with the recent failures of President Bush to even be alerted that anything was wrong in the world. He was not told, during a bicycling afternoon in Maryland, of the airspace intrusion that had caused his wife and his staff to be evacuated from the White House, not bothered with it until after the all-clear was given, nor was he told until hours afterward of the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. And of course there is the now infamous failure to be informed of the 911 episode until after he had finished his little goodwill visit to a Florida kindergarten. One assumes that his staff is acting under orders not to bother him with "little stuff."Let's hope we don't have any situations that require real leadership from him. Oh, yes . . . we do. Maybe Bush's advisors will get around to letting him know, one of these days. On the other hand, considering his inability to even talk about world events without embarrassing himself, maybe they know what they're doing. posted by Liz @ 8:20 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
Clarence watches the History Channel on television pretty much 24 hours a day, dozing on and off through day and night alike. I happened to be in his bedroom yesterday evening during a documentary on the Three Mile Island near-catastrophe, and sat down to watch for a while. At the point when I came in, the narrator was speaking of the increasing concern by reporters at the site over whether they should be staying to cover the developing story, or "running for their lives." I was struck by the account of how President Jimmy Carter, an engineer with years of experience in naval nuclear reactors, sent his personal representative to the site.An online source that I came across, the HomeTown Channel (website for television stations KHBS and KHOG) describes what happened then:Fortunately, into the picture came the calming force of Harold Denton, the NRC's director of the Office of Reactor License and Regulation."I saw my job as a technical job and I was surprised as anyone that it evolved into the spokesman role," Denton said.Denton stepped into the media spotlight by accident. He was calm and straightforward, the exact opposite of [Metropolitan Edison spokesman] Herbein, and gained the trust of the army of reporters covering the story. Above everything else, Denton was President Jimmy Carter's personal man on site."I had this magic number at the White House in the situation room and anything I needed that the government could provide. I could call this number and they would take care of it," Denton said.Denton's job was to work closely with Gov. Dick Thornburgh and to bring order to the situation. He was to call Carter directly at least twice a day."Once in the morning and once in the evening and anytime anything significant happened," Denton said.It's hard not to compare this on-the-spot leadership (President Carter visited the site himself not long after Denton arrived) with the recent failures of President Bush to even be alerted that anything was wrong in the world. He was not told, during a bicycling afternoon in Maryland, of the airspace intrusion that had caused his wife and his staff to be evacuated from the White House, not bothered with it until after the all-clear was given, nor was he told until hours afterward of the earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean. And of course there is the now infamous failure to be informed of the 911 episode until after he had finished his little goodwill visit to a Florida kindergarten. One assumes that his staff is acting under orders not to bother him with "little stuff."Let's hope we don't have any situations that require real leadership from him. Oh, yes . . . we do. Maybe Bush's advisors will get around to letting him know, one of these days. On the other hand, considering his inability to even talk about world events without embarrassing himself, maybe they know what they're doing.
Fortunately, into the picture came the calming force of Harold Denton, the NRC's director of the Office of Reactor License and Regulation."I saw my job as a technical job and I was surprised as anyone that it evolved into the spokesman role," Denton said.Denton stepped into the media spotlight by accident. He was calm and straightforward, the exact opposite of [Metropolitan Edison spokesman] Herbein, and gained the trust of the army of reporters covering the story. Above everything else, Denton was President Jimmy Carter's personal man on site."I had this magic number at the White House in the situation room and anything I needed that the government could provide. I could call this number and they would take care of it," Denton said.Denton's job was to work closely with Gov. Dick Thornburgh and to bring order to the situation. He was to call Carter directly at least twice a day."Once in the morning and once in the evening and anytime anything significant happened," Denton said.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
RSS Feed
PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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