Sunday, January 27, 2008

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT LIVE

(I DID, but I'm glad to have seen it now.)



I REMEMBER once being asked for advice on parenting. Deciding to be sincere about it for once, I simply said: JUST WATCH MR. ROGERS. I could tell you what I think on the subject, or what I've learned from my own experience, but why bother?: EVERYTHING FRED ROGERS KNOWS AND SAYS ABOUT CHILDREN IS CORRECT, and I realize this astonishing fact again, every day.

SO I SAY: just watch.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

That is all.

12 comments:

Roderick said...

Wow.

That's really heartening to watch.

We're on tenterhooks down here in New Zealand watching this all unfold.

Whanks for posting

Heavy Critters said...

For all the talk about race and gender lately, I find it interesting (and refreshing) how diverse the people in the crowd behind him are.

Jesse Thorn said...

Have you heard Davey Rothbart's piece about Mr. Rogers from TAL? I've cried listening to that like three times.

PS: Why have I now admitted to crying in comments on your blog twice now? I readily admit... that's pretty weird.

Matt Casey said...

What a speech.

This has convinced me to become a bit more active in this campaign. Maybe I'll start by donating..

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting these recent youtube videos. I have completely lifted a couple of them over to my own blog (didn't T. S. Eliot once say something about all good poetry being nothing but plagiarism?), along with some attendant comments... should anyone wish to know my opinion.

But I will say this: It's remarkably refreshing to find a political candidate for whom I actually have respect and admiration. Now who would've thought that possible?

P. Little said...

As a Canadian closely observing what's going on in this U.S. election, I really hope Obama can come through first on the Democratic side, and then against whoever the Republicans put up. It would not only benefit the United States, but also us up here in Canadia, and the rest of the world.

The man is, plain and simple, inspiring. I wish *any* of our choices up here were like him!

Perry Gerakines said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Perry Gerakines said...

Thanks for the post. I only caught the last few minutes live. Watching the whole thing sheds a new light on it for me.

[Apparently, there was a comedy sketch on the radio (NPR?) wherein Fred Rogers was bleeped to make it sound like he was saying naughty things... My 8-year-old son was really offended that someone would do that to Mr. Rogers! His display of devotion made me a proud dad.]

[sorry for the re-post, had to fix a typo]

Solonor Rasreth said...

Your words were so good, I lifted the whole thing for my own post. :)

bcwoods said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a41lJIhW7fA

This is a video of Fred Rogers petitioning the Senate to approve funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

If you haven't seen it, it's well worth watching. Mr. Rogers basically manages to sway the opinion of the entire Senate in roughly under 7 minutes.

Elizabeth said...

The Obama candidacy is like a fresh wind in a long closed room. Next pay day I'm donating more!

rob! said...

i've managed to donate about $350 so far to Obama, i wish i could be more.

i voted for Bill Clinton--twice--but i could not be more dismayed by how the Clinton campaign is running things--tearing down the freshest voice the party has had in decades with cheap low-ball, Rove-ian tactics.

Obama is supremely impressive! imagine having a president WHO CAN ACTUALLY SPEAK WELL.