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| BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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February, 2004:
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Dan Rather is the undisputed head pooh-bah of the news division at CBS. Rather has spent 40 years solidifying his position. His former colleague Bernard Goldberg reports that Mr. Rather is extremely sensitive to criticism from any source. In his book "Bias," Mr. Goldberg quotes CBS News President Andrew Haywood: "Dan can't distinguish between mainstream criticism and criticism coming from the extremists. It's all the same to him." Goldberg writes that in the 1980s there was a vice president at CBS whose unofficial title was "vice president in charge of Dan Rather. "His main job was keeping Dan Rather happy." Little wonder, then, that CBS News refuses to acknowledge the liberal bias that is a staple of CBS News. No one can get through to Dan Rather. He is impervious to criticism. |
It must be lonely at the top.
Al Gore... Al Gore thought he could get away with saying he "took the initiative in creating the Internet," and claiming that his dog had a better deal on prescription drugs than did his mother-in-law. He thought he could get away with saying such absurd things because he had spent a lifetime doing so in Washington. You can get away with a lot in Washington.
It must be lonely at the top.
In the 1970s, Representative Wilbur Mills was the powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. The federal government did not spend a dime without his approval. But Mr. Mills saw nothing wrong with cavorting on stage (and later in the Tidal Basin) with professional stripper Fanne Fox.
Naturally, he blamed alcoholism for his lapse in judgment. But those of us who were in Washington at the time knew better. Wilbur Mills thought he could get away with just about anything. Nobody could tell him otherwise. I could tell you so many stories about abuse of power and bad judgment in our nation's capital... Of course, so could Bob Woodward and the Washington Post, but...
It must be lonely at the top.
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Now comes Rush Limbaugh, the undisputed leader in talk radio. Rush got to
this level in spite of the advice of experts. "You cannot conduct a
national talk show with callers." "You have to have nationally known
guests on a talk show." "You cannot hold a caller over a commercial
break." "You cannot keep a national audience for three hours a day." And
on and on. He defied them all. And a major result is that he has driven
his critics nuts - not to mention the liberal press. [I am not talking about his political views here. My comments have nothing to do with his political views, or whether or not you agree with him. If you get hung up on that, you will miss the point here.] |
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And it is true with Rush, as it is with Dan Rather and Al Gore and it was with Wilbur Mills. Along with the success came an extreme arrogance - a profound belief that you were above the rules and beyond the criticism, even from your friends, family, and colleagues. I suspect that that is why Rush did something as stupid as allowing himself to be addicted to prescription drugs for so long. Long-time listeners have recognized his growing arrogance, his "nothing can touch me" attitude.
It must be lonely at the top.
I am not talking about confidence and conviction in one's beliefs. I am talking about a disconnect from the indisputable realities of life.
Now, let me make another distinction here. I don't know enough about what pills Rush took or why he took them or where he got them. And I am not criticizing him for becoming addicted, as foreign, wrong and inexcusable as it seems to me. I am criticizing him for allowing it to go on as long as it did.
What did he think was the long term prospects for his addiction? Did he honestly think that he could keep his addiction a secret forever?
It must be lonely at the top, when you are oblivious to the realities of life - realities that eventually catch up with everybody.
Now... I have no direct experience with how lonely it is at the top. I have never been at the top, and I doubt I ever will be. Frankly it is plenty lonely enough right here where I am.
Still... it must be lonely at the top, when you allow no one to reach you.
I have no answer for Rush Limbaugh. I wish I could slap him around some. But I imagine that events have done that to him by now. I just wish I could have done so about five years ago.
I do have an answer for Dan Rather and the liberal press. Actually, the free marketplace is providing the answer. Dan is at the top of CBS News, but CBS News is falling fast. There will never be another Dan Rather at CBS News. And CBS News will never be what it used to be.
I also have an answer for Wilbur Mills. Actually, Wilbur Mills has long since "assumed room temperature." OK, so I have an answer for Ted Kennedy, and Dick Gephardt, and Robert Byrd, and Tom Daschle, and Arlen Specter, and Chris Dodd, and Tom Harkin, and Trent Lott, and John McCain... and hundreds of House representatives whose behavior borders on arrogant and abusive.
Of course, they would not listen to me. They are on top, where it is so lonely.
The answer is term limits. That is something YOU can control.
Are you listening?
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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