Friday, October 01, 2004
Size matters: Not only did Bush's hunching behind the podium make him look small, but take a look at who has the biggest (metaphorical) wang: 
posted by Quiddity at 10/01/2004 08:13:00 AM
6 comments
Clearly you haven't been reading Wonkette
Lefty
Watching on C-SPAN, I didn't see Bush looking small by hunching behind the podium. C-SPAN kept the two candidates in continuous split-screen, and then adjusted for their difference in height by aligning them by their heads, not their feet. As a result, Kerry's podium looked like it was about 3-4 inches lower than Bush's.
At one point they aligned the podia, but then put Bush in a close-up so that the two heads were still even. It left Kerry looking dwarfed by a monstrous Bush.
I guess the cameramen had read all those studies about how, since the television era, the taller candidate has always won, and they didn't want to give Kerry an edge. But it ended up looking...odd.
What's Bush doing all hunched over like that? This isn't a Japanese banquet!
Sigh. I have been fighting this for years, mostly at airports where people are requested to come up to the "podium." It's LECTERN!!!! Dang it. A LECTERN! Orchestra conductors (and others) stand ON A PODIUM. Dang it. A podium. Stand ON a podium. Behind a lectern. Sheesh.
podium 1. An elevated platform, as for an orchestra conductor or public speaker.
2. A stand for holding the notes of a public speaker; a lectern.
?? What dictionary was that from? Just etymologically that makes no sense. From the American Heritage dictionary:
podium: Latin, meaning a raised platform, balcony, from Greek "podion," meaning 'small foot," from "pous." 1. An elevated platform for an orchestra conductor, lecturer, or the like; dais. 2. Architecture: A low wall serving as foundation. 3. A wall circling the arena of an ancient amphitheater. 4. Biology: Any structure resembling or functioning as a foot.
Perhaps the airline industry has modified the definitions to suit the ignorance of Americans....
lectern: ...from "lectrum," from Latin "lectus," past participle of "legere," to read. 1. A reading desk with a slanted top holding the books from which Scriptural passages are read during a church service. 2. Any stand that serves as support for the notes or books of a speaker.
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