Johnny Bullard
Guest Columnist
Around the Banks of the Suwannee, it is hot and humid. If you get a breath of air now, you will steal it. We are more accustomed to the heat than many of our fellow Americans. We may not love a steady diet of it, but we know how to deal with it.
I was thinking about American history recently and how, if the kind of technology available today existed at certain times in history, our nation might have taken a different path. Let's just discuss from the 1930s up to the present. I am only going to give a couple of instances where I believe there would have been changes.
If Americans had lightning-fast technology, it is doubtful that the late President Franklin D. Roosevelt would have been elected. He was severely physically challenged by polio. Can you imagine, with modern technology, the press keeping that a secret from most of the American people? It did. It can't now; it's impossible. If you want to watch a good movie that gives an account of some of Roosevelt's physical challenges, watch "Warm Springs." A wonderful movie.
Let's move up to the Kennedy administration of the early 1960s, known to some as Camelot. Despite the fact that Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis was one of the world's greatest style icons, and the late President John F. Kennedy was very handsome and a World War II hero, he had issues, real issues, with infidelity. Outside his inner circle in Washington, D.C., the American people knew nothing of that. The press certainly kept a hands-off approach, and it simply wasn't breathed. That wouldn't have been the case had today's technology existed then.
The one individual who utilized the media to her advantage during a very dark time in the nation was the late Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She KNEW the power of imagery and what created indelible impressions. She used those skills to plan President Kennedy's funeral, the first nationally televised funeral of an American President, down to the nth degree
As a result of her directions, what images most often flash to one's mind when we remember that presidency? A young John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his father's coffin in the funeral cortege. A statuesque Jacqueline Kennedy clad in an impeccable black suit, a pillbox hat with a flowing veil over her face, walking behind her husband's coffin, the blood-stained pink suit she refused to remove right after his assassination in Dallas. These images remain forever in our memories.
Now, history wasn't altered by today's technology, and Roosevelt was elected to his fourth term as president. Kennedy was assassinated and died beloved by the majority of the American people.
You can't alter history by wishing certain events away, but we can all be more cognizant of what's out there in the world today and how it can affect us. A life can be ruined by an image on a cell phone; social media is an extremely powerful tool. It is a sword that cuts both ways. Artificial intelligence, I don't know much about, but I never cared too much for silk flowers or artificial anything; nevertheless, to school myself somewhat, I watched the movie "Her." It was astounding. I sometimes ponder America's future, how computer-generated photos, computer-generated research and audible books will alter or perhaps tone down American ingenuity and creativity. I can't answer those questions for even myself, so I don't know for sure.
What I do know is this: our world is moving at a lightning-fast pace. It's one of the many reasons I love where I live. The beauty of nature around us, greeting friends at area restaurants or social events still means a great deal to me. I pray we hold on to that warmth that is home for some time to come, no matter how fast the world moves.
Speaking of lightning fast, it seems only yesterday that my only niece, Laura Leigh Bullard, was born, and now she will be celebrating her 30th birthday this coming weekend. Time flies!
From the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs, wishing you a good week.