A little background on technology, folks:

Since its invention a half­-century ago, the teleprompter has been used by news anchors, newscasters, actors, comedians, and just about everyone else who appears in front of a television camera—including presidents and presidential candidates, Republicans and Democrats alike. The purpose, of course is to strive for precision and accuracy in their speeches.

The teleprompter substitutes for written text on a piece of paper. The story that Abraham Lincoln read from his notes for his Gettysburg Address on the back of an envelope is not just legendary. It is true. The used envelope he wrote the speech on still exists.

When master speech-maker Franklin D. Roosevelt came on the air with his "Fireside Chats" in the 1930s and 40s, he read from copy that he had written himself. No one could criticize him for reading from a prepared text for the simple reason that they couldn't see him reading. But anyone with a brain cell knew that speeches that cohesive and precise had to have been written ahead of time, even if FDR did deliver them in a friendly and informal manner.

Prior to the teleprompter, "cue cards" were used. Someone would stand next to the television camera with a "deck" of poster-size cards on which the script was hand-printed in large, dark block letters. These were commonly used on entertainment shows, and frequently when they switched cameras on shows like "The Andy Williams Show" and "The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour" you could catch occasional glimpses of one of the crew holding up a cue card with song lyrics and/or gag lines on it. As the entertainer finished what was on one card, it was dropped or handed to someone else and the next card was held up.

In 1959, when Patti McLaughlin and I did the television series, "Ballads and Books," on Seattle's KCTS Channel 9, the producer asked us if we wanted cue cards. Since we had sung the songs dozens if not hundreds of times, we declined. But had we been delivering a lecture or political speech where we wanted to make certain that we had covered all the salient points, we would most certainly have opted for cue cards—or these days, a teleprompter. As it was, when we talked about the history and background of the material we were singing, it was in answer to questions posed to us (the "experts") by Buzz Anderson, who emceed the shows—and who had the script in his hands.

Prior to the invention of the teleprompter, news anchors such as Walter Crokite, Chet Huntley and David Brinkley, and Edward R. Murrow could be seen with typed scripts in their hands, unobtrusively glancing at the script, but keeping their eyes focused on the camera as much as possible. Now, you see news anchors and reporters looking at the camera. Or just to the side of the lens, where the teleprompter is located.

Criticism of former President Ronald Reagan's teleprompter use was that he was merely mouthing stuff written for him by gofers, something Reagan had been conditioned to do during his years as TV spokesperson for General Electric. Concealing Reagan's teleprompter use was deceptive.

As a law school lecturer, President Obama would not have used a teleprompter. From that, it appears that he is not used to reading as a substitute for speaking his thoughts ex tempore. By attempting to capitalize on such trivia, Republican candidates demonstrate how little of substance they really have to talk about.

By citing such childish irrelevancies and trumpeting that they won't be using such technological aids, Republican hopefuls may be shooting themselves in the foot. We've already seen some pretty hilarious—and highly revealing—examples of disorganized thinking from people like (presumably) former candidate Sarah Palin, and more recently Rick Perry's monumental "OOPS!"

There will be more to come, I'm sure. Excellent fodder for stand-up comics and "Saturday Night Live" skits!

Those who keep repeating canards about Obama's presumed "dependence" on teleprompters (not the case at all), and comparing him with Hitler (a stupid and mean-spirited piece of hate-mongering at best) reveal the nature of their own character and more than amply demonstrate that they have nothing of substance to talk about.

Don Firth

P. S. As to Obama's irrelevancy, could anyone do any better when faced with the Congress that he has had to deal with? If so, who?