On TV, a Day That Speaks for Itself
By Tom Shales, Style Columnist
... This was not a day for standard scrappy bickering by pundits or tough talk about politics and political personalities. Eliminating that kind of thing left the networks occasionally speechless, and there's nothing wrong with that. Dan Rather of CBS News occasionally would say, "Let's pick up a little bit of the music" as this or that military band played this or that march or patriotic tune.
Even NBC's Tim Russert, seemingly born to the sport of political dodgeball, was low on raw opinion. But he was still a valuable asset for the broadcast, anchored by Brian Williams, who was helming a major event for the first time since taking over such chores, and "NBC Nightly News," from Tom Brokaw. Williams did a good job but sometimes let an oddly agonized tone creep into his voice even when not appropriate. He is an awesome ad-libber, but at one point went off on a screwy tangent about how charming it was that George H.W. Bush said, "Excuse the gloved hand" when greeting people. Williams thought this harked back to a golden age of chivalry, or something. ...
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A24730-2005Jan20.html>
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