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1991-1992 (4 of 5)
by Kevin Minh Allen
posted 7/14/06
My dad would wear a T-shirt with the name of the next phase of the war emblazoned across a yellow ribbon that lay at the feet of a stink-eyed bald eagle: Operation Rolling Thunder. I think he ordered it from a local radio station, WCMF, at which a popular morning radio show host, The Weaze, held sway over public opinion in and around Rochester, NY. The Weaze, aka Brother Weaze, a Vietnam vet, constructed both an irreverent attitude toward those who were not amused by his bluster and an establishmentarian stance based on his reverence toward authority figures. He was also a big fan of his Hog, or Harley-Davidson motorcycle, and soon gathered up a large group of fellow Hog riders to rally around the Liberty Pole in downtown Rochester in support of the troops and by extension the war with Iraq. The local TV stations showed clips of this pathetic demonstration of ultra-nationalism while their coiffed talking heads wore the requisite yellow ribbons on their lapels and prattled on about how our military was securing freedom across the world for generations to come. At this point my permanent estrangement from the popular media outlets took root. It was as if a canister of stupidity had been released and a thick cloud had come right through the TV speakers and I was left squirming on the ground, trying desperately not to breath in the poisonous air.
TV plays a huge role in Americansf lives, not only entertaining us, but also instructing us on how to behave and establishing what is socially acceptable and what is potentially abhorrent. So, itfs no big surprise that I first learned of the beating of Rodney King courtesy of a couple of LAfs finest from a passerbyfs video that was shown on national broadcast news. Ifve always been a news/current events enthusiast and back in the day my favorite TV news anchor was Peter Jennings on ABC World News Tonight. Faithfully, at 6:00 PM, I would sit in front of the TV and be soothed by Jenningfs confident baritone as he introduced reportage from around the world. The evening news served as a periscope that poked above and beyond my cocoonish existence, letting me in on the curiosities of human behavior that each of us both hide from and share with each other.
