European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sidelights Call in democracy in danger of putting government on hold Clarence Page if video computer and virtual reality technology keep advancing we Maywell end up with a president who does t exist at  muses Jamie Malanowski spy Magazine National editor in a analysis of the 92 Campaign for december s Washington journalism review. It May to hard to imagine but not All that hard. The relationship Between modern politics and mod. Ern Media has changed rapidly in a few Short years especially in the Short year that has passed since Ross Perot announced last february on can s Larry King live that he would run for president if support ers put his name on the ballot in 50 states. Before the show was Over the switchboard was lit a Campaign was launched and campaigning quite Possi Bly would never be the same. Soon we would see Bill Clinton playing saxophone on the Arsenio Hall show Dan Quayle attacking Murphy Brown president Bush yapping on Rush Limbaugh s radio show and Perot s half hour infomercials rivalling the ratings of the baseball playoffs. Perot received so Many More votes than the experts predicted he would without the benefits of a traditional party primary or convention process. That it is no longer hard to imagine a candidate with Perot s Money and without his oddball quirkiness buying television time and Selling himself All the Way to the White House. Sinclair Lewis imagined such a possibility once. He called his Story it Cun t happen Here. It can to arc you kidding of course it can. Even a president Max headroom could happen. Remember that computer generated Star of his own network science fiction adventure show a few years ago think of it. A computer generated virtual reality candidate would not be limited by conventional positions or special interest groups. He or she would not even be limited by a physical body or an individual personality. He or she could be All Pels to All 4 t. Can i Start Over people instantly reacting to Public will As measured by the latest up to the minute polling techniques. Maybe George Orwell had it wrong. Perhaps in Stead of a future in which we arc starved for information we  a future in which we arc Over loaded with information. I think i have seen the future. It is in Dill Clinton s interactive presidency. Hampered by a stumbling image in his first two weeks Clinton seemed to regain his footing Only after staging Media events like his installation of a hot line number for Public comments at the White House and a televised town Hall meeting to show the voters he still cares. The telecast predictably received better notices from the Public than it did from reporters who were miffed that Clinton would bypass them to deliver his message straight to the Public. Who after All docs he think he is Ronald Reagan Well yes if not in idol qty then definitely in Folksy Media Appeal. And both men owe in obvious debt to the radio fireside chats of Franklin Roosevelt. As technology has improved so has the necessity for politicians to take advantage of it. Just ask. George Bush who failed to take enough advantage of it. Dut can we have too much of this electronic democracy it is refreshing for voters after years of growing estrangement  process to Sec their views getting results in cases like the downfall of Zoc daird s nomination or in stalling the lifting of the ban against Gays in the military. Dut too much interactivity could cause cause government to take on the worse characteristics of talk radio narrowly focused sensationalist simplistic ready to do anything to keep the switchboard lit. \ if officeholders put too much Power into the dial j ing fingers of groups that Are the Best organi cd we / risk a government that is no less volatile than radio talk show ratings. Sometimes politicians arc forced Toad on Prin Ciple. That too is refreshing. Yet actor tic on principle becomes increasing difficult amid a cacophony of people All of whom feel they Are special Yelling at each other across a great cultural Divide. Politicians must show leadership. Otherwise we might As Well replace them with a Large computer and turn government into a political version of Home shopping network. I can see the ads now Don t like the Way things arc going just dial our 800 number. Our operators arc standing by. The Chicago Tribuna Ashe left behind his top title hero Andy Rodney it Rocs arc hard to come by. There arc so few real ones and our demand for themis so great that we make heroes out of people who Are not heroic at All. Or maybe they re Semi heroic. We recently had presidents Day to Honor George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Those two Are legitimate heroes although As Long As we re consolidating a Day to Honor great presidents i d like to have Thomas Jefferson in there too. Birthday anniversaries for heroes Are a Good idea because they remind people of the Virtues we All wish we had. We d like to be As Good As they were. There s often a lot of nonsense that goes into the legends of our heroes but it does t matter what Ever the facts of the person s life really were we re admiring the ideals and great characteristics we be endowed our hero with whether he had them or not. George Washington was honest. Black people in this country i Don t Call them african americans because i Don t Call myself Irish american Jusi american Are desperately in need of real heroes. It s a tragedy when they lose two Black americans As great As  mar shall and Arthur Ashe within two weeks of each other. It was t just Black americans who lost those two either. We All lost them. If i had to choose Between a Holiday in Honor of Martin Luttier King or. Or Arthur Ashe i d pick Ashe. King was a Good Man who did Good things but i found his personal style of speaking bombastic and overblown. Jesse Jackson another really Good Guy suffers from the same tendency toward oratorical excess. Ashe met All the qualifications a person needs to be called a hero. He was almost too Good to be True but he was True. His death from aids contracted through a transfusion of diseased blood during by puss surgery is one of the Heartbreak stories of our Century. First Ashe was a Champion. It was t talk. For a few years he did one thing better than anyone else in the world. He played Tennis better. He won both the Wimbledon and . Open tournaments. After his prime years As an athlete he became one of the very bust people in the world. If there was a trophy that went with the distinction every year he d have had shelves full of them. He was undefeated. Tabuno Modia Sonvico and Rooney is a Lorr Noi slots and Slipka editor. Fcb Rufair 23, 1993 sunday Page 9