Jul 25

Written by: Steve Clawson
7/25/2009 9:47 AM

A Rare Misstep For Obama

At his prime time news conference this week, President Barack Obama was asked about the arrest of Louis Gates in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Obama stated police had "acted stupidly." It's a comment he now regrets as he should. But give him credit for owning up to the mistake and taking steps to rectify the situation quickly.
It was a rare misstep for Obama because he's not known for making this kind of a mistake. It's even worse because it deflected attention from the real purpose of his news conference--health care reform.

Let's hope the incident in Cambridge is a "teachable moment." Racial profiling is a serious issue whether it occurred in this case or not.

A couple of quick points on the Gates arrest. It's interesting to note the charges were quickly dropped which indicates he never should have been arrested in the first place. And a lot of the people who criticized Obama for his remarks are the same people who own guns and will do whatever it takes to protect their homes. Ask yourself one question, how do you think you would have reacted if you were in the same situation as Gates?

And That's The Way It Is:

America lost a true a giant in the world of journalism with the passing of Walter Cronkite. He set the standard for modern day broadcasting. For a half-century Cronkite's life was intertwined with the biggest news stories of the 20th century. From the tearful announcement of President Kennedy's death to the youthful exuberance of the first men on the moon, Cronkite was the person American's turned to in times of tragedy and triumph. Cronkite was a pioneer in his own right as television made its way onto the American landscape. Although it's been nearly 30 years since Walter Cronkite sat behind the anchor desk at CBS, he remained a visible, vibrant part of journalism. Anyone who has ever worked in news will miss "Uncle Walter" and that's the way it is. Good-bye Walter and thanks for the memories.

Where Have All The Big Ideas Gone?

We've just celebrated the 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon for the first time. When President Kennedy first proposed the mission, no one knew whether the U.S. could meet the goal, but one thing was certain, if anyone could do it, America could. Where has that can-do spirit gone to in this country? Big ideas and lofty goals have been replaced by talking points of let's cut taxes and reduce the size of government. Just imagine if that mind set had been in place when projects like the Hoover Dam or the federal highway Interstate system had been proposed. Where would this country be today if naysayers had killed those projects by saying the country couldn't afford them?

The lack of "big ideas" to move this country forward is disappointing. Here in Arizona, on a smaller scale, we've seen a couple of major projects that were highly criticized at the time they were proposed. But today, you can see the benefits of the Tempe Town Lake and the light rail system. Even though we're in a tough shape economically today, the U.S. will come out of it as we also do. Let's hope we get a new crop of visionary leaders to replace those who just say no to everything.

The Late Shifting

As you probably know, I'm a big Jay Leno fan and am anxiously awaiting his return to TV in September. Since Conan took over The Tonight Show on June 1st, some interesting things have been happening. For the past four weeks, ABC's Nightline has won the late night time slot. The show likely got a boost because of the Michael Jackson story. But what may be more troubling for NBC is that David Letterman has beaten Conan two straight weeks. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/23/nightline-wins-4th-week-i_n_243916.html

The older baby boomer viewers who left The Tonight Show when Jay departed and now seem to be watching Letterman. After the change, NBC touted Conan was doing much better than Jay in the younger demo, but that appears to changing now too. NBC can't be happy with this headline "Conan Continues to Hemorrhage Viewers of All Ages." http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2009/07/conan_and_dave.html

I'll be the first to admit, it's still early to say how all of this will play out. Conan could turn out to be a genius move for NBC that will pay dividends for a long time to come. But my hunch is, at least in the short term, NBC will regret the departure of Jay from The Tonight Show. That's one reason, the network hedged its bet and kept Leno in the NBC fold. By the way, a new website just launched for Jay's new show this week:
http://www.thejaylenoshow.com/

Attention Carrie Prejean: You're 15 Minutes Of Fame Are Over!

Former Miss California USA beauty queen Carrie Prejean just won't go away. It isn't her surgically enhanced body that gets her in trouble, it's her mouth. For some reason, she was invited to sing at the Del Mar racetrack this week in California. Maybe it was to make the horses run faster because after Carrie's performance they probably were looking to get out of there as quickly as possible. One can only wonder what Simon Cowell would have said after hearing this:

http://www.tmz.com/2009/07/25/prejean-attempts-to-carrie-a-tune/

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