Would we have even noticed? :rofl:
Barack Obama's teleprompter dies; trusted speech aid was barely 2Breaking news, literally: After helping both candidate and chief executive deliver weighty words countless times on the campaign trail, on the road to, from and within the White House, the beloved teleprompter of Democratic President Barack Obama died Monday night.
The fragile, overused speech aid was little more than 2 years old. No immediate cause of death and no autopsy were announced.
The passing of the celebrated speech-giving helper happened suddenly and unexpectedly. The president was looking right at the teleprompter, giving remarks in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building next door to the White House. He was rigorously defending his economic stimulus package, which has been rigorously criticized recently for being like many political speeches, not very stimulating.
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"Oh, goodness!" Obama exclaimed. "Sorry about that, guys." The heartless audience of mayors, urban policy wonks and administration crowd-packers laughed out loud at the sudden death.
As if it was a mere machine, the 47-year-old president displayed no sign of concern or compassion whatsoever for his departed friend. He simply continued his speech with the surviving teleprompter on the other side..."
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/07/obama-teleprompter.html