Add Brian Williams to the List

There are a few people who, when they appear on any of the late night talk shows, are must see. When I find out they are to be on Dave or Fallon if I am not able to be up I make sure to set up a Tivo recording.

On that list for me are Bill Murray, Bill Cosby, Micheal J Fox, Regis Philbin and Jungle Jack Hanna. There are others who from time to time become something you must see, these folks are people that no matter what they are promoting, or even not promoting, you must see the show.

Brian Williams now must be added the list. He is intelligent on any subject and is remarkably funny. On tonight's David Letterman show Williams did his Regis impression and it, incredibly, it is dead on. As Dave and he talked about the unfortunate incident that Al Roker has been all over the news discussing recently he made this quip " That hasn't happened in the West Wing since Nixon found out he had to release the tapes." Pretty clever stuff.

One of my favorite people: Brian Williams

The Powers That Be by David Halberstam

David Halberstam was one of the most impressive authors of his time. With an ability to write about sports, politics, and history that few posses the one thing you always know about a Halberstam book is that it will be researched well, written in a perfect pristine prose, and you will walk away much more knowledgeable than you were before you started.

In the early seventies Halberstam published the non fiction tome The Powers That Be. In this book the author follows four of the major players in the National media as they grew through the twentieth century. For many this would appear to be dry prose when fresh and certainly as it covers a time period up to its publishing certainly it can feel dated.

When one takes the longview however and realizes that technology is always changing and that the same issues that challenged newspapers as they moved away from labor intensive production to cold press technology challenge them now in an even more important and to the papers frightening way.


I will write of each of the entities that Halberstam speaks about and then address the commonalities that arose despite the media format.

Halberstam introduces us to Bill Paley a cigar maker's son who convinces his father to advertise on the radio and before long somehow has become heavily involved in the early days of radio. Eventually pulling together a network of stations to compete against the much stronger NBC Radio Paley soon shows himself a genius. Soon CBS not only challenges but passes NBC. During World War II CBS found great acclaim with the work of Edward Murrow in London reporting on the airstrikes. The book also chronicles the struggles of Murrow after the war leading to his confrontation with the network. What happened is fairly typical. As the network became larger and larger they were no longer the outsider but the entrenched. With sums of money involved that would have been astonishing just years earlier Paley became more and more conservative. Upsetting the applecart with wide ambitious news coverage was something to fear. We see CBS news shrink in the late fifties and early sixties as with the entertainment division dominating on a great scale each minute of network time was worth a fortune. Time to be eked out for news specials shrank and NBC soon surpassed them. The emergence of Walter Cronkite brought the network back into a leading position but it was never a comfortable relationship between the aristocracy of the network and it's news division. Be it Morley Safer in Vietnam or Dan Rather on the trail of Nixon there was a constant pressure from the top to pull back on it's coverage to be balanced against a news staff doing what news people do.


The Los Angeles Times is the story of the modernization of what was in terms of journalistic integrity a farce into a real newspaper by the late sixties and early seventies. The Times empire was owned by the Chandlers. Norman Chandler and his socialite wife Buffy were good Republicans. It is remarkable to see how during the early days of Nixon how this paper created and propped him up. Democrats were simply not covered, not even to respond to whatever charge Nixon was throwing that day. As the leading paper in the state it was a remarkably powerful entity basically controlling all the coverage of the political season. It is also pointed out that when Otis Chandler took over the paper in the sixties, and in an attempt to become a more fair minded publication started to give Democrats coverage and actually ask questions of the then national Nixon campaigns Nixon did not know how to respond. Otis succeeded in placing the paper on more even footing from an intellectual standpoint but there would always be a division between the naturally conservative editorial board and the more liberal reporting staff.

Time Magazine, the House of Luce was also a very conservative publication. Luce the son of missionaries took that same sense of zeal and promoting what was right into his paper. Luce was a strong Republican and Time was a Republican magazine. As Vietnam became a major story the frustrations of the Time reporters in Saigon to get any story published that was factual about what was happening on the ground was at its highest. Time had traditionally been a newspaper with the highest sources. What they did not realize or did not care to know was that of course the higher the source the more likely it was the governments information. The men on the ground in Vietnam would send in stories and the high placed source in the government would deny or refute the story and Time would go with the official version. When Luce died in the late sixties his paper rapidly changed and in the days of Watergate Time would move on the story in a way so aggressive it would have been impossible to foresee in Luce's time.

The Washington Post is perhaps the most compelling story in the book. Telling the story of the brilliant Phillip Graham who after marrying the publishers daughter soon became the publisher of a paper that was flawed. Graham's energy and friendliness soon made him a man in the know. His friendship with LBJ is often cited as being one of the main reasons that Johnson ended up on the Kennedy ticket. Grhaham however was sick, suffering from a mental illness, bi polar perhaps but eventually as he slipped more and more into fits of depression he was hospitalized. After his suicide his wife Kay took over. After a rough transition and as she slowly got her feet under her she became a force in her own right. Of course a large measure of her success came from employing Ben Bradlee as her editor. Bradlee a fiercely independent man, a man with a competitive streak like no other editor of his time, was the editor who allowed Woodward and Bernstein to dig deeper and further on the Watergate story when no one else saw or smelled was underneath the bungled break in. The stories of Woodward and Bernstein are compelling. Bernstein the misfit who many on the paper felt would soon just fade away but who added to the story with Woodward because of his great talents on the phones turned out to be the perfect counterpart to the young and hungry Woodward. The two made history and might well have been the only people who could have accomplished what they did.


Outside of the media stories in this book however there is one other figure that looms over this entire book. The time frames predominantly told of in this book is the time of Richard Nixon. From his beginnings being propped up by the Los Angleles Times and Time Magazine to his being chased by Dan Rather of CBS to his eventual comeuppance under the leadership of The Washington Post it is Richard Nixon who tells the tale of the media in the middle of the twentieth century. Indeed his rise and fall is the story of the change in the media and what the people felt the media should be. It is, as you read this book, the unwritten angle. As he stretched out across a quarter century of American history Nixon also tells the tale of the media in that same time frame.

Fear and Loathing at Rolling Stone by Hunter S Thompson

About a year ago a collection of the writings of Hunter Thompson for Rolling Stone, edited together by Jann Wenner was published. Considered the father of Gonzo journalism Thompson wrote with a style all of his own.

This collection of his writings centers mostly on his infamous Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 1972. Following the election from Muskie to McGovern, Nixon to the seeds of Watergate this was Thompson at the peak of his writing.

Reading Thompson is like looking through the looking glass. When he writes that as the campaign progresses reporters all self medicate themselves to be able to live with the constant array of bullshit that is part of a Presidential campaign one has to wonder if for once we are hearing the truth.

If one takes a real look back to forty years ago and pictures Thompson's writing through the prism of what reporting looked like at that time one gets a sense of what a revolutionary he was.

The candidates themselves, Nixon, McGovern, all seemed to have a sense that Thompson was different. Surely they thought he was crazy, but all in all one guesses that talking with this crude example of reportage was if nothing else a novelty.

I enjoyed this section of the book immensely as well as I did like his later writings on Watergate, Nixon, and the election of Jimmy Carter. His later writings on subjects such as a late infatuation with polo, and a crazy story about a supposed encounter with Judge Clarence Thomas ( pre Supreme Court nomination) in the Nevada desert when the judge's limo crashed into a hard of sheep and overturned and out came tumbling the judge with a couple of matching hookers. Thompson write this story at the time of Thomas confirmation hearings and said he realized in watching that this was the judge he had met years ago but I, in reading it, could not bring myself to think it anything close to a true story. If it was shame on us all for putting this man on the bench but that questioning, in the end, became the problem with later Thompson reporting. That is, where does the unfiltered truth end, and the exaggeration and Gonzo begin.

I read the book through but would not recommend it. What I would advise someone who wants to gain the full Hunter experience is to have them read just Fear and Loathing on the Campaign in 1972. This is Hunter at his best, when he was on that fine, almost indistinct line between genius and crazy. It is not a line one can stay balanced on for long.

The President's Club by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

This recently published book explores the relationships between the current and former Presidents in the modern age. Since Harry Truman was elected relationships between Presidents have become an integral part of the success of those in office. With modern medicine and many younger men being elected President we have scene at various times the President's Club grow to as many as six when Bill Clinton was President.

Harry Truman began the modern day President's club when he brought Herbert Hoover back into the service of the country. Hoover, an outcast in the FDR years, had been a hero long before his Presidency, his efforts in food relief and distribution in World War I made him an easy choice for Truman to use in saving Europe after the second war.

Not all relationships have been as smooth. Eisenhower and Truman had a terrible hand off and did not really make piece until Ike left office, and especially at the funeral of JFK.

JFK being young needed Eisenhower and Ike complied, offering advice and political cover after the Bay of Pigs.

LBJ embraced Truman and Eisenhower, Ike in fact at times was the bellicose voice in his ear over Vietnam.

For readers whose sense of history begins in the seventies Richard Nixon, as in all things, is as complex a character as one will find. While in office his thoughts to blackmail LBJ to keep him on the sidelines and out of public comment might have been the precursor to Watergate. The talk of breaking into The Brookings Institute is shown to have been to get some letters of Johnson's detailing his letters on the political nature of his bombing halt before the 1968 election. Of course we also see how Nixon's actions might well have met the level of treason as he interfered in the Paris peace talks during the 68 campaign.

Bill Clinton's relationships are perhaps the most affecting to one's spirit of what could be if politicians still worked together. Clinton took advice from the noted foreign policy expert Nixon and compared his death to the loss of his mother. Gerald Ford tried to help Clinton in his impeachment scandal, and while he could not keep the Republicans at bay Clinton never forgot his efforts. Of course the most interesting is Clinton's relationships with the Bush's. George Bush who has become his surrogate father and W who Clinton says one cannot help but like.

Clinton the consummate politician warned Gore and his fellow Democrats that underestimating Bush the second would be a mistake. Many have heard the joke W told about Clinton waking from one of his surgeries and being surrounded by his loved ones" Hillary, Chelsea, and my dad." He was not kidding. The relationship developed so far that when Bush the elder was honored at 87 at The Kennedy Center that Bill Clinton professed his belief that the elder " could do virtually no wrong in his eyes" and that he loved him. It is interesting to note that as the multitudes and generations of Bush's lined up for a family photo that Neil Bush shouted for Clinton " the brother from another mother" to join the picture. And he did. As Clinton said, "every family needs a black sheep."

This is just a small sampling of the book. It is an easy read and it is very interesting. For me the takeaway is simple. If Presidents when they leave the office hold the office above party and the country above party why can that not happen when they are in office and more importantly in Congress.

I have observed that politicians of both stripes start to seem more sensible after the campaign is over, after they no longer have to raise money and rouse the base. The question we have to ask ourselves is how do we get these sensible people to be the ones that are running. They " are " the ones running by the way in most cases, they just cannot be sensible and get elected.

We need to ask ourselves why.

Barack Obama on Jimmy Fallon

Barack Obama appeared on Jimmy Fallon the other night at a special show broadcast from the University of North Carolina. From an entertainment point of view the show was a huge success. Fallon at his best, played a solid monologue, then did one of his songs he is known for, one of his creation called Walk of Shame, a song well placed at a college campus.

Dave Matthews joined in and then of course played later in the show. The heart of the show however was the appearance of The President. Fallon in his normal role of cheerleader was visibly excited. Obama took part in the regular feature " Slow Jamming the News." It was funny and The President used the opportunity to skewer Republicans over their stance on his student loan bill.

Playing to the choir at a college campus Obama was clearly trying to raise interest and excitement in the youth vote. It works. Still some would wonder, myself included, if it is correct for a President to appear in a comedy skit so irrelevant and then to use it for political purposes. This was a far cry from Richard Nixon saying " Sock it to Me" and Bill Clinton was not The President when he appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show.

Funny Yes. Worth Watching Yes. Questionable as to if this is something a sitting President should be doing? Yes.

What It Means To Be a Democrat by George McGovern

George McGovern is the poster child for landslide elections. On the wrong side that is. George McGovern lost the 1972 election in a landslide to Richard Nixon. The Nixon machine painted McGovern with the three A's slogan of Amnesty, Abortion and Acid.

McGovern set the predicate for later candidates like Kerry who were certified military heroes being portrayed in National elections as being soft on and not supportive of the military. McGovern the same man who flew 35 bombing runs in WWII while most of those Republicans criticizing him had a much more limited and certainly less dangerous role than he did in the war.

In his most recent book McGovern sets a course for the Democratic party. It is not a course that is likely to be followed as Democrats do not have the stomach for their parties history.

Told in simple language this is a tome that is easily read. I read this last night over a couple of hours and honestly felt like this is a book that I wanted my son to read. A book that perhaps all young Democrats volunteering for their candidates and party should be given to read. This is a book that should make one proud to feel a part of the party of FDR, Truman, Wilson and Clinton.

McGovern in his chapter on Compassion calls the difference between the right and left on this issue as action versus words speaking about Bush the younger speaking of comapssionate Conservatism while cutting health and education programs.

On the Chapter on Defense Spending he correctly points out that it was Republican Dwight Eisnehowser who presciently predicted a military industrial complex that would be hard to seperate from the power brokers in Congress. He points out that our military is bigger than the rest of the worlds combined. He points out that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq of the first decade of the twenty first century are responsible for 6 trillion or half of the national debt. He also makes the point that our Homeland Security apparatus that has built up in the wake of 9/11 is a boondoggle that has become a sacred cow of earmarks and unneccesary expenditures. He is correct.

McGovern also addresses chapters on Immigration, Education, Employment, and the Environment.

A pet issue of McGovern's has been Food and Hunger and he decries that in America we have people who go to bed hungry. A special curse to him is America's issues with alcohol and drug abuse. McGovern states that America's prison population has quadrupled in the last thirty years, many as a result of drug offenses.

McGovern talks about the lunacy of being the only country in the Western World without single payer, Medicare for all, insurance.

He also brings some reality to the settlement of the Middle East issues by stating, truthfully, that no answer will come until a two state solution is realized. As I have read before continued lack of progress in this will eventually lead to Israel negotiating from a position of weakness, as demographically it will not be long before the Jewish people are a minority in their own state. The truth is that leaders on both sides of this issue, Palestine and Israel use this issue to improve their political position. They are in effect holding the issue hostage while a large proportion of their people would grasp at a two state solution.

I love George McGovern. He is a man of principles and a man of honor. This is an enlightened book.

The Making of the President 1960 by Theodore H White

This book has long been considered one of the seminal writings on American politics. Theodore White documented the 1960 campaigns of Nixon and Kennedy as well as their challengers for their respective parties nominations.

White, who I have been reading about in the David Halberstam book The Powers That Be, began as a journalist in with Time magazine under Henry Luce. His writing and book on China made him famous.

This book started a new chapter in his life. Later he wrote similar books about the 64, 68, and 1972 elections.

Perhaps it is because I have read several books on Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and the major players in the 1960 election. I am not sure why. This book, however, is just not that good. Maybe the more modern political writing is just better or more my style but as much as I wanted to like this, as much as I wanted to be reverant to something that has been spoken of as some of the best political writing ever, I cannot. This book is just not very good.