Lazarus – Hebrew, “God will help.”
“Name Your Baby”, Lareina Rule
“If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”
Winston Smith in “1984”, George Orwell
In the 1994 midterm elections, the Republican Party achieved something they hadn’t in nearly four decades: they won the majority of seats in both houses of congress. And they won big; a “Super Majority” that clearly showed an early rebuke of President Bill Clinton’s agenda. Newt Gingrich, a veteran politician from Georgia, was elected House leader. At the start of 1995, Connie Chung, then co-anchor of the CBS Evening News, interviewed Gingrich’s parents at their home. Puffing on cigarettes and speaking barely above a stage whisper, Gingrich’s mother, Kathleen, noted her son didn’t particularly like Clinton or First Lady Hillary Clinton. In fact, she said, he had an extreme disdain for Hillary and said he’d called her a “bitch”.
The national reaction was explosive. Gingrich himself never confirmed whether or not he’d actually said that, but condemned for taking advantage of two people who weren’t “media savvy”. How media savvy does someone need to be, replied Chung, to know they’re speaking with a nationally renowned journalist and have three cameras set up around them?
But Chung had unknowingly orchestrated her own demise. CBS almost immediately terminated her.
In 2004, as then-President George W. Bush was in the midst of his reelection campaign, Dan Rather, another veteran journalist and anchor of the CBS Evening News (Chung’s former colleague), dived into Bush’s so-called military record. After graduating from Harvard in 1968, Bush immediately joined the Texas National Guard. The Vietnam War was raging, and young men were being drafted into military service. Getting a position in a National Guard unit was highly coveted and difficult to obtain. According to…well, himself…Bush completed his first stint in the Guard in 1972 and reenlisted, before moving to Alabama to assist in the presidential campaign of George Wallace. He then joined the Alabama National Guard and supposedly got suspended for missing an annual physical exam. But what happened after that is largely unknown. Bush’s records mysteriously disappeared.
Dan Rather had gained fame in 1961, as he delivered live coverage of Hurricane Carla’s landfall in Texas. He began anchoring the CBS Evening News in 1981. The outrage over his questions into Bush’s military service was palpable. The same political and social conservatives who screamed over Bill Clinton’s lack of military service were suddenly offended with Rather’s report.
At the start of 2005, CBS dismissed Rather. For the second time in a decade, the news conglomerate had allowed themselves to be intimidated by a key political figure.
All of that nonsense came to light recently, as controversy fell atop Stephen Colbert, host of “The Late Show” on CBS. A few months ago Colbert interviewed Texas politician James Talarico who is running for U.S. Senate. However CBS didn’t broadcast the interview. Apparently CBS hadn’t heard of this thing called the internet and something else called YouTube. Its legal advisors claimed the interview was in violation of the Federal Communication Commission’s Fairness Doctrine – a creed that mandates broadcast networks devote equal time to views on national issues. Generally the rule applied only to news programs; talk shows were exempt because they were considered entertainment venues.
Until now.
If either previous presidents Bill Clinton or Barack Obama got upset every time a public media figure mocked or even criticized them, they’d be incarcerated for life in mental health hospitals. In contrast the administration of current President Donald Trump is obviously of fragile spirit. Colbert has been a vocal critic of the president.
CBS canceled “The Late Show”, which had been broadcasting since 1993. Last week was the final telecast. They claimed low ratings, but I don’t believe that. My followers know what a strong free speech advocate I am. It’s not just the writer in me – it’s the human being in my soul; someone born and raised in a country that values the right to speak freely.
Politicians utilizing their power to coerce a media into compliance or silence is the essence of totalitarianism. Other countries allow this to happen. China or Russia sound familiar?
I’ve never been a fan of Colbert, but I’m still angry over his show’s cancellation. It’s obvious what happened. But what should we, as free people, do about it? How much of this madness are we supposed to tolerate?
Chief Writing Wolf 