I learn via The Volokh Conspiracy about C-SPAN working to put their entire video archive online. You can find it here.

I don’t know what you might want to use it for, but me? I want to see people I know. Growing up as I did, I went to (public) school with the sons and daughters of many US Congressmen and Senators, amongst other things. I recall when Dan Quayle became Vice-President and his son, Tucker was monitored and chauffeured every day at my high school by US Secret Service agents. We all knew each other due to the circles our parents ran in, but that didn’t mean we were friends (e.g. I’m not friends with Danielle Delay, Tom Delay’s daughter, but I knew her and if she’d claim she remembers me she’d probably recall me as some dork, which would probably be a fair assessment given the social circles we were in during high school… seems this person at DailyKos remembers her from high school too). I was good friends with a few kids tho; we could bond on a level that few other kids could.

So flipping through the archives and coming across the fathers of my old friends, kinda fun.

What do I really want to see?

My Dad.

Being able to go back and find archived footage of my Dad? That’s cool. I can’t get the archives to dredge it all up (can’t tell if it’s just not online or if their servers are slow/hammered), but I’d love to see things like his first speech on the floor of the US House of Representatives.

I did see some old pictures. But I guess I’ll have to wait for the video footage. Once it’s up tho, I’ll have to show my kids so they can see what Grandpa did in a past life.