Hidden Agenda Watch - Poor Eyesight Edition ***Update***

This is the first of a series, in which I try to decipher the weirder talking points to get to the meat. I'm glad I didn't come up with this idea when they were making such a ruckus over the gay teletubby, because THAT was a stumper.

Today I'm going to tackle the continuous shreiking about President Obama's use of teleprompters. It kind of strikes me as a no-brainer that you READ your prepared statements rather than memorize them; and if you're going to be on camera a teleprompter is as good a way to read as from a sheet of paper. It takes little more trouble than setting up a podium. Seems like a non-issue, or at best an interesting curiosity, that this president might use teleprompters more than previous ones. He also uses a Blackberry more than previous presidents.

So why all the comments?

Here's my best guess: a guy who prefers to read things at a distance rather than close up may be far-sighted, and perhaps needs reading glasses for that 8.5 x 11 sheet of ultra-white. So the agenda:

They're trying to force Obama to appear in public wearing reading glasses.

I don't blame 'em - seeing Obama in reading glasses will surely put his approval number in Bush territory. Clever bunch o' ferrets, those neocons.

Update - visual evidence!