THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 12, 1996 TAG: 9607120474
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Guy Friddell
LENGTH: 52 lines
Over the car radio somebody on the Don Imus show on WTAR said Bob Dole's recent outburst at NBC-TV's Katie Couric would be interpreted by voters as stemming from the impatience of the aged.
My knuckles turned white on the steering wheel.
``IMPATIENCE!'' I shouted to nobody. ``WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD ANYBODY IMPLY THAT OLD FOLKS FLY OFF THE HANDLE?''
My window was open, and the driver across from me at the traffic light didn't have any air conditioner in his car either - and at my shouted question, he looked in my direction.
I thrust my red face out the window, the better for him to hear.
``ARE YOU LISTENING TO IMUS? DID YOU HEAR WHAT SOME NINCOMPOOP ON THE RADIO JUST SAID? HE SAID OLD PEOPLE LOSE THEIR TEMPERS FOR NO REASON AT ALL!''
For answer, the young churl - he must have been in only his mid-40s - leaned across the front seat and rolled up his window.
The gesture saddened me. If there's one thing that's depressing, it's trying to confer with people who shun reasonable discourse.
A half-dozen pedestrians had paused in the crosswalk to gawk at the red-faced citizen expounding.
``WHY DON'T YOU GOOPEY PEOPLE MOVE?!'' I hollered. ``HAVEN'T YOU EVER WITNESSED A CIVIL EXCHANGE OF VIEWS?''
To the young man in his car, looking straight ahead, I called, ``YOU DON'T FOOL ME. YOU CAN HEAR EVERY WORD I'M SAYING! YOU BABY BOOMERS OUGHT TO SHOW MORE RESPECT FOR YOUR ELDERS.
``DR. SPOCK WOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOU, AND I DON'T BLAME HIM!''
And then, just in case he hadn't heard, I stuck my thumbs in my ears and waggled my fingers at him.
That ought to teach him something about old people, I thought.
The light changed, and the street resumed its humdrum air.
Plucky Katie Couric was right, of course, questioning Dole about his remarks on tobacco. It was simply correct reporting, the kind prized by any news-gathering medium.
A day or so later, NBC ran the rest of the interview with the Doles, and Elizabeth Dole told how, while courting her, Bob Dole had hosted a luncheon with 24 of her mother's elderly friends, gallant amid the gray-haired ladies.
``It was a legislative practice,'' he said, a little ill at ease at the praise. He laughed, adding, ``I was building a consensus.''
There's the Dole newspaper people enjoy, not that stranger whining about the liberal press. ILLUSTRATION: Katie Couric
Bob Dole by CNB