Sanford: In a fair and just America, Trump is the obsolete man
"The Obsolete Man" is episode 65 of "The Twilight Zone," starring Burgess Meredith as Romney Wordsworth, the accused, and Fritz Weaver as the Chancellor (and prosecutor). It originally aired on June 2, 1961, on CBS. (CBS Television Network)
Otis Sanford
Otis Sanford is professor emeritus of Journalism and Strategic Media at the University of Memphis and political commentator for WATN-TV ABC24 News. Contact him at o.sanford@memphis.edu.
“The Obsolete Man” is the title of a 1961 episode of “The Twilight Zone,” a popular science fiction television series that first aired from 1959 to 1964 on CBS.
As a child, I occasionally watched the show with my older siblings. But I was too young to understand the sophisticated messages and plot twists. The original black-and-white episodes are currently shown on cable and satellite TV six nights a week on MeTV. And I am hooked.
“The Obsolete Man,” which aired July 26, is a classic. It is also prophetic. Burgess Meredith, a brilliant character actor, played the role of Wordsworth, and Fritz Weaver was equally brilliant as the chancellor.
As I watched intently, it was as if Rod Serling, the show’s creator, was trying to warn us 63 years ago that our politics would one day devolve into chaos. That there would come a time in America when a wannabe dictator would emerge and seek to lord over all facets of the state through fear-mongering, intimidation, racism and cunning craftiness.
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