A Consultant's Chronicles

The End Of An Era: After 'That's The Way It Is'

Like most people I was saddened to learn of Walter Cronkite's passing this weekend. It clearly marks the end of an era. However, odd as it sounds, my sense of loss was mostly "historical" in kind. Whether things seem retrospective or not, there is no doubt that Walter Cronkite left an indelible mark in the country, the industry & defined the term "news anchor."  According to Dan Rather, the man who replaced him [after he retired], Cronkite "walked us through history." He was the one people turned to when the Kennedys were shot, when MLK was shot, & when man walked on the moon for the first time. In fact, according to EIN News,  a global news service I read this weekend, his name has become the term for news anchors in Sweden & Holland. For example in Sweden these folks are called "Kronkiters*." I don't think today's generation of news consumers can have the same emotional connection to the event. For me the sudden loss of Tim Russert was far more significant even though his role was somewhat different. Generation is everything I guess.

That's The Way It Was

If that's true, who are the people today's twenty year olds will look to for trusted reportage. Roger Simon of Politico? Arrianna Huffington of the Huffington Post? Matt Drudge of the Drudge Report? I don't think so. The problem with looking to news reporters on the web is that there is no mistaking a reporter's political leanings. Unlike Cronkite & Russert, there is no one on the web who comes to mind that even tries to report just the unvarnished news [read; without bias].  He was known as the "most trusted man in America" & those are mighty "big shoes to fill." Rather may be respected but he couldn't come close. Most people don't watch the news at 6PM nightly anymore.  Why should we be so restricted when it can be obtained on a computer, a mobile phone, or an ipod? Who will be the web's "Kronkiter" or is the model gone forever? According to the newsclips, Cronkite used to end his show with the line "and that's the way its." Today it's perhaps more accurate to say "and that's the way it was." 

*Whether or not the term "Kronkiter" means news anchor is disputed by some bloggers. Since the idea comes from some credible sources including Cronkite himself in his memoir, I'm guessing it was more commonly known in Cronkite's time as an anchor but it's a guess.

Line of the Week 7-5-09

This week's line of the week belongs to the Republicans specifically the women in the form of tie between Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal & Meghan McCain [& daughter of the Senator from AZ] of the Daily Beast. While both lines are in many ways laughable, they are both also tragic in an odd sort of way. The other thing these two lines share is that they both reflect a less than flattering truism about women of all political stripes. Simply put, instead of supporting each other, whether at work or at home, we are always each other's harshest critics. No wonder we don't have a woman in the White House yet. 

About Gov. Sarah Palin's last 11 months & the effect on the GOP leading up to her bombshell resignation, Noonan said:

"...She was out of her depth in a shallow pool..."

Perhaps that's true but ouch!

In an article formed as a memo to Republicans, Meghan McCain was hardly any kinder. As an invested party interested in seeing her cohorts lead the GOP out of the wilderness, she [wisely] begs the Young Republicans not to elect someone with racist leanings as their leader in the form of 38-year old Audra Shay. About the person in question, McCain says:

"...Also, did I mention that she’s 38? And she’s going to be the leader of an organization with the word “young” in the title? Is it so implausible that people in their twenties (or even early thirties) could join the Republican Party--or have we just completely given up on their vote?.."

Memo to Ms. McCain: yup, in the current climate, the 20 & 30 year old vote may just be a tad out of reach. As for the so called "young" Repblicans, I have to admit that this is taking "40 is the new 30" just a little too far!
 

Line of the Week 6-21-09

This has been a week full of events, some inspirational some sad, & some pathetic. Between the revolution in Iran, Governor Mark Sanford's peccadilloes, & the deaths of Michael Jackson & Farrah Fawcett, it seems fair to expect at least one worthwhile quip or directly relevant standout line but I didn't find anything fitting [read: printable]. I did find something that is at least in part, applicable from Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal.

Sharp Targets

Like many others on both sides of the political aisle, Noonan is concerned that Obama is trying to do too much [particularly when our country's bankroll is a little thin]. More pointedly she quoted something Claire Booth Luce said once said to former president Kennedy, which provides every president with a very sharp target. Of Luce, Noonan wrote:

"...'a great man is one sentence. His leadership can be so well summed up in a single sentence that you don't have to hear his name to know who's being talked about. 'He preserved the union and freed the slaves,' or, 'He lifted us out of a great depression and helped to win a World War.'  You didn't have to be told 'Lincoln' or 'FDR.'...' "

The Standard For 'Greatness'

It seems to me that this concept of greatness can be applied to people in all areas who make their mark. "He discovered electricity" or "he was the boy wonder of tennis." In these two cases no one needs to be told they referenced Thomas Edison or John McEnroe respectively.  What, if any will be "the sentence" for Michael Jackson?

Line of the Week 5-31-09

This week's line of the week belongs to Chris Mathews of Hardball. After critiquing the president's speech in Cairo yesterday he made the assessment that it was wise to speak to the young intelligentsia in the Muslim world since more frequently than not, they are the ones who inspire & plot terrorist attacks. He said the speech will initiate dialogue among them & summed things up in a folksy but pointed way. Mathews said:

"...If you are sitting around a Cairo cafe listening to kids talk, are they saying 'do you want to go to Michigan State or do you want to blow up Michigan'..."

While I don't suppose any political science textbook would use such terms, the fact of the matter is, that pretty much says it all.

Sophia Loren, Your Child, & The Recession

After reading a piece about children growing up in the recession  by Susan Berfield, an associate editor for BusinessWeek recently, I was reminded of a Charlie Rose interview I saw with the venerable Academy Award winning actress Sophia Loren a few years ago. What does Sophia Loren have to do with children growing up in the recession?

When asked by Rose about her fame & wealth, Loren replied that as a child of the Great Depression she doesn't see herself as someone who is rich & never will. Moreover money will always be a concern for her. She said her sons can & do see themselves as wealthy because they have no memory of dire financial struggles since they've grown up basking in their parents' collective success [Loren is married to Italian director Carlo Ponti]. Given the global dramatic effects of our current financial predicament, how the recession will likely effect today's children holds some interesting parallels to what Loren experienced herself.

Age Related Effects Of the Recession On Children

According to Berfield, a child's age group will likely influence how they are effected by our recession. Accordingly:

-Young children will likely be most deeply impacted because they will have no memory of "better times." Furthermore since they are likely to pick up on their parents' anxiety, the world will seem like an anxious & uncertain place. She indicates that their own career & financial decisions may be far more cautious as a result. This outcome is borne out by Loren's current feelings & views about money as a child of the Great Depression. Therefore the hypothesis that the recession may have a deep impact on today's small children seems very real.

-Teens & tweens reportedly are more likely to experience a sense of loss, which may make them attend to business issues more carefully in the future. For children at this age, the loss of material things may feel profound  & personal. They also are likely not to assume that they will be higher achievers than their parents.

-Young adults represent the favored & cosseted millennial generation who are entering the workplace at an unfortunate point in time when jobs are tougher to come by. Additionally, this may influence career decisions, which may have long-lasting consequences. They may also resent their parents for promising them a brighter future than what presently seems possible.

What Can Parents Do

How parents deal with their children's reactions seems to be largely dependent on the family's financial circumstances. If their finances [& therefore their lifestyles] are simply "dinged," many parents seem to opt for keeping the burdens & worries to themselves in order to maintain their children's lifestyle before the crash. To do this, they are tapping into 401k's & scrimping on themselves. If however, parents have taken a significant financial hit that leaves them with little or no resources, they are drastically changing their lifestyle & doing it as a family where sacrifices are shared & nothing is hidden. It seems that in this, there is no "one-size-fits-all" solution. 

Line of the Week 5-17-09

Unless your head has been buried in the sand you know that even though his term is up, Dick Cheney has been in the news...a lot! Remarking on the former VP's currently low popularity rating, Newsweek's Jonathan Alter got my vote for this week's line of the week. Quoting a GOP source on the Ed Show this week, he said:

"...Dick Cheney's popularity is somewhere between the old drinking age & the new drinking age [putting it at about 20%]..."

Putting this assessment into some kind of context, by comparison President Obama's popularity is almost at the point when people begin collecting their Social Security checks making a benchmark like the legal drinking age little more than a dim memory [or at about 60%]. Maybe we've discovered a new "rule of thumb." Business has the 80/20 rule [aka Pareto Principle] & perhaps in politics we now have the 60/20 rule?

Line of the Week 5-10-09

Commenting on the reviews of Wanda Sykes' performance at the Correspondents Association dinner this past Saturday night, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker reiterated the fact that a couple of one liners from Wanda Sykes about Rush Limbaugh simply failed which seems to be the general consensus [whether you are a Limbaugh fan or not]. However, she also acknowledged something important about attitudes towards this event that can certainly be applied to many different scenarios. She said:

"...There’s nothing un-funnier than Saturday night’s jokes reviewed by the caffeinated light of Monday morning...Which is why we probably shouldn’t quarterback a comedian over coffee when she was performing for a crowd primed on cocktails..."

Too many Monday morning pundits overlooked this one simple fact. Having said that, in this case, even the crowd "primed on cocktails" didn't see the humor in those "over-the-top shots" at Limbaugh. Why? In a more general sense, while it's essential not to under-estimate the importance of context, some things simply reflect poor taste & judgment under any circumstances.

Line of the week 4-26-09

This week's Line of the week belongs to Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine (R). Opining about the GOP's problems with moderates as reflected by Senator Arlen Spector's switch to the Democratic Party, she said:

"..It is true that being a Republican moderate sometimes feels like being a cast member of “Survivor” — you are presented with multiple challenges, and you often get the distinct feeling that you’re no longer welcome in the tribe..."

While what she says is true, at least with Specter the demarcation lines have been clear. Democrats have their own "wild card" in former vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman (I-CN), the Democrat turned Independent who campaigned for John McCain (R-AZ) in 2008 & spoke at the Republican convention. In short, you have the U.S. Senate behaving very much like your standard dysfunctional organization. 

Arlen Specter: Political 'Lifestyles of the Switch To Be Famous'

Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA)....whoops,I mean (D-PA) has suddenly "gotten religion" & switched to the Democratic party. Naturally the Democrats are thrilled while the GOP seems to be on shakier ground than they were last week [which hardly seems possible]. Will this sudden switch really matter? I don't think so. Specter has always been unpredictable & I see nothing that convinces me that he will change.

Is There Herring For Democrats

What the switch means to the Democrats is made clear in a " pseudo-conversation" between New York Times columnists Gail Collins & David Brooks. In it Collins
correctly points out that having a 60 vote majority [number of votes needed for cloture, the process of ending debate] in a Senate controlled by the Democrats guarantees exactly nothing. As she puts it, "cats are more likely to go in one direction with a little 'herring-flavored incentive' " but Democrats?  Not a chance. I have to agree. From what history tells us, they can't seem to help but "shoot themselves in the foot!"  This ought to be interesting...& very entertaining!

Line of the Week 4-19-09

Discussing the newest revelations about torture, Pulitzer Prize winning author & Newsweek editor Jon Meacham tried to strike a balance by advocating for a reconciliation/ fact-finding committee in order to understand what actually happened. He was not however, in favor of getting bogged down in prosecutions. Referencing the words of historian Arthur Schlesinger he said: 

"...history to a country is like memory to a person; without it we don't know who we are or where we  are going..."

Then again, one could reasonably say that there were times in the last 8 years where those in power acted like an administration without a compass in terms of the future while suffering from intermittent amnesia when it came to the past.