On the other hand, it doesn't sound as though it was particularly high-visibility. No cameras, no live news coverage--if he was looking chiefly for a splash, doesn't it make sense that he'd wait for something showier?
Just because the event itself wasn't live on TV doesn't mean anything. Look at the visibility of the results.
It's a good point.
"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain--that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist." --Lysander Spooner, 1867
