I once heard someone bemoan the fact that basketball players and movie stars get more attention and adulation in today’s society than people that, well, actually do stuff. At the time I thought it was the gospel truth, but the entire city of Lawrence’s reaction to the Clinton lecture made me not too sure about that assessment…
The news that Clinton was coming generated a current of excitement throughout our little town. People took off work, skipped class, shirked other obligations to line up for tickets. Tickets were gone within twenty minutes; the disappointed ones sulked and pouted and complained, and eventually it was moved to Allen Fieldhouse. Now Allen Fieldhouse is no stranger to long lines and rabid fans; usually at this time, though, after basketball season has ended, the place is a ghosthouse.
Not so on this glorious day; it was jam packed from wall to wall with people of every race, age, and category in general. What united these people, besides their desire to witness our former president’s famous public speaking ability for themselves, was the rivers of sweat that people collectively produced. No lie. My skin became tender and salty from having marinated in my own sweat, and that of others beside me, for the duration of the speech. Of course what I felt must have been a fraction of what poor ol’ Bob Dole and Clinton experienced, in their suits and ties. Ugh.
Anyways, the speech. It was good, and I’d been expecting a quality presentation from Clinton, as he is renowned for his charismatic speaking ability. I would like to someday watch a televised debate between Clinton and Dubya, or even Kerry for that matter; I have the feeling that Clinton’s smooth-talking would reduce his opponent into gibbering, stuttering ape-like noises. Yes, Clinton is a good speaker, but the ever-present cynic in me kept wondering throughout the entire thing whether he has the same speech written for all of his college campus visits (with a few sentences specifically targetted towards the particular school, such as his basketball comments), and does not bother to update it for recent events. With all his boast about being able to say whatever he wanted now that he isn’t running for office, he notably did not mention anything about the torture of Iraqi POWs, the rising gas prices, or anything highly specific that has happened in the last few days.
I’m not sure why I really fixated on that; it’s to be expected that he’d skirt controversy by avoiding these highly specific issues. After all, he’s a politician, and there’s his wife’s career still to consider. I think I’m just an idealist at heart, though, and I can’t fathom why people can’t just lighten up, loosen their ties in 90 degree weather, and just say to hell with it - I’ve got opinions, and I’m here to share them, so by golly I will. I could never be a politician.
The biggest thing I don’t understand about today - why in the hell isn’t Allen Fieldhouse air-conditioned, anyways? You’d think with all the sheer amount of money Athletics generates, they’d be able to splurge a little on not making our star players suffer heat strokes while playing. Not that I feel that much sympathy for them, of course, but it just seems a little inconsistent with the university’s general policy of kissing basketball ass…