I think Michael Gerson’s defense of the Obamaprompter is all hooey, but it does contain one awesome image:

But it is a mistake to argue that the uncrafted is somehow more authentic. Those writers and commentators who prefer the unscripted, who use “rhetoric” as an epithet, who see the teleprompter as a linguistic push-up bra, do not understand the nature of presidential leadership or the importance of writing to the process of thought.

The problem is the ever greater gulf (er, cleavage) between the telepromptered and the unpromptered Obama, not just in style but in content, is way beyond push-up bra enhancement. That widescreen Star Wars-intro scroll in this week’s press conference is the equivalent of Madonna’s conical brassieres from the Eighties. And some of the unpromptered stuff is like Magda’s topless scene in There’s Something About Mary.