"It's Time to Put Aside Childish Things." Do You Think?
By Brian Lambert
We'll see what the arbiters of instant history decide was the "takeaway
line" from Barack Obama's inaugural address today. But his quote from
Corinthians about it being a "time to put aside childish things" struck
me as extraordinarily apt. Put another way, he's saying, "Hey, America,
grow up already."
Of all the stark contrasts between what The Previous Regime did to this country and what Obama is promising to undo, the starkest may be that he brings what the former never did--namely, the enormous reassurance of an adult's thought processes and composure. It always stunned me how much George W., Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, their Greek Chorus of Misinformational Foghorns, Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest sounded and behaved like adolescents, relentlessly, unapologetically ignorant, and/or indifferent to the consequences of their actions.
And they were sold to us as "the adults," remember? They were the people who didn't believe in "nation building," could be trusted to apply "fiscal responsibility," and would certainly restore "American values." What we got instead was the executive equivalent of one of those the-parents-are-away teenage house parties where 500 kids go berserk and tear the plumbing off the walls, burn the sofa, steal the TVs, and vomit on the heirloom rug.
I don't mind telling you I've waited eight long years for the sight of that chopper flying George W. back to Texas.
Meanwhile, of course, as I wrote yesterday, the sickle was swinging at Clear Channel radio over in St. Louis Park, taking out two good friends, Chad Hartman and his producer, Darren "Doogie" Wolfson from KFAN. Chad had been with "The Fan" pretty much since its inception, and Doogie had been there since he was in diapers, I think.
Chad returned a call around lunchtime today. He kept his cool. There was no indignant outrage. It's a business decision. He has seen enough of those to know how to play the "comment" game. "There's language in the contract [regarding settlement of the remaining years of his contract], and it looks like they're going to respect it." (The average Clear Channel contract, even one like Chad's, negotiated via a good attorney, have a way of disintegrating when exposed to daylight when the big company decides it'd just rather not pay.)
Where Chad and Doogie go next, I can't imagine, and neither could Chad. Other than 'CCO, which has one spot to fill, no one else in town is hiring—and by that, I mean not any other radio station or even the second shift at Jiffy Lube. The "adults" have screwed this pooch really, really well.
Moreover, what work may come available in the months ahead, like newspaper drones shed by the Strib, will be paired with compensation levels far under what twenty-year professionals have grown accustomed to. Chad obviously has resources many others in the industry do not. Doogie is a different, more familiar story.
As I said yesterday, there's a direct correlation between the disemboweling today at Clear Channel, the crushing debt load that has driven the Star Tribune to bankruptcy, and the whole enabled ethos of the past eight years. (Avista must have taken seminars from Clear Channel on "How to Royally Degrade Your Product on Someone Else's Dime.")
Among a litany of barely veiled repudiations of the Bush-Cheney era (like, you know, respecting science--as opposed to anything some nitwit posts to NewsMax), Obama mentioned "the greed and irresponsibility" that has cratered the world economy. This refers to the rush by a gilded few, among them the Mays family controlling Clear Channel, to achieve Croesus-like wealth where mere prosperity would never do.
Obama's line about "time to turn away from childish things" should have some resonance for the media pundit class as well, which has largely celebrated the adolescent binging of The Gilded Few. While "the adults" in D.C. and on Wall Street were on their rampage of looting (Do you have a better word for it?) and gross indifference to reality, America's "mainstream" press failed to summon the courage to describe it and treat it--constantly--for what it was, namely incompetence and illegality wildly out of the bounds of normal tolerance.
Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and the rest melted down their cliche machines today describing the "overwhelming outpouring for the new president" without ever poking at the fact that it has a lot more . . . A LOT MORE . . . to do with a vast, worldwide sea of exhaustion and revulsion over what "the adults" have done than the fact Obama is, you know, black.
Of all the stark contrasts between what The Previous Regime did to this country and what Obama is promising to undo, the starkest may be that he brings what the former never did--namely, the enormous reassurance of an adult's thought processes and composure. It always stunned me how much George W., Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, their Greek Chorus of Misinformational Foghorns, Limbaugh, Hannity, and the rest sounded and behaved like adolescents, relentlessly, unapologetically ignorant, and/or indifferent to the consequences of their actions.
And they were sold to us as "the adults," remember? They were the people who didn't believe in "nation building," could be trusted to apply "fiscal responsibility," and would certainly restore "American values." What we got instead was the executive equivalent of one of those the-parents-are-away teenage house parties where 500 kids go berserk and tear the plumbing off the walls, burn the sofa, steal the TVs, and vomit on the heirloom rug.
I don't mind telling you I've waited eight long years for the sight of that chopper flying George W. back to Texas.
Meanwhile, of course, as I wrote yesterday, the sickle was swinging at Clear Channel radio over in St. Louis Park, taking out two good friends, Chad Hartman and his producer, Darren "Doogie" Wolfson from KFAN. Chad had been with "The Fan" pretty much since its inception, and Doogie had been there since he was in diapers, I think.
Chad returned a call around lunchtime today. He kept his cool. There was no indignant outrage. It's a business decision. He has seen enough of those to know how to play the "comment" game. "There's language in the contract [regarding settlement of the remaining years of his contract], and it looks like they're going to respect it." (The average Clear Channel contract, even one like Chad's, negotiated via a good attorney, have a way of disintegrating when exposed to daylight when the big company decides it'd just rather not pay.)
Where Chad and Doogie go next, I can't imagine, and neither could Chad. Other than 'CCO, which has one spot to fill, no one else in town is hiring—and by that, I mean not any other radio station or even the second shift at Jiffy Lube. The "adults" have screwed this pooch really, really well.
Moreover, what work may come available in the months ahead, like newspaper drones shed by the Strib, will be paired with compensation levels far under what twenty-year professionals have grown accustomed to. Chad obviously has resources many others in the industry do not. Doogie is a different, more familiar story.
As I said yesterday, there's a direct correlation between the disemboweling today at Clear Channel, the crushing debt load that has driven the Star Tribune to bankruptcy, and the whole enabled ethos of the past eight years. (Avista must have taken seminars from Clear Channel on "How to Royally Degrade Your Product on Someone Else's Dime.")
Among a litany of barely veiled repudiations of the Bush-Cheney era (like, you know, respecting science--as opposed to anything some nitwit posts to NewsMax), Obama mentioned "the greed and irresponsibility" that has cratered the world economy. This refers to the rush by a gilded few, among them the Mays family controlling Clear Channel, to achieve Croesus-like wealth where mere prosperity would never do.
Obama's line about "time to turn away from childish things" should have some resonance for the media pundit class as well, which has largely celebrated the adolescent binging of The Gilded Few. While "the adults" in D.C. and on Wall Street were on their rampage of looting (Do you have a better word for it?) and gross indifference to reality, America's "mainstream" press failed to summon the courage to describe it and treat it--constantly--for what it was, namely incompetence and illegality wildly out of the bounds of normal tolerance.
Charlie Gibson, Diane Sawyer, Katie Couric, and the rest melted down their cliche machines today describing the "overwhelming outpouring for the new president" without ever poking at the fact that it has a lot more . . . A LOT MORE . . . to do with a vast, worldwide sea of exhaustion and revulsion over what "the adults" have done than the fact Obama is, you know, black.
© 2008 MSP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved
Hey Brian,
I'm going to miss you. It must have felt good to get that off your chest.
So, this may be one of your last listings. Or maybe you'll have a long goodbye, like the Strib.
No. Probably not that long. Your ship is not that big.
You've done good work. I have no doubt we will be seeing your thoughts somewhere in another place. I hope it pays the freight.
As to the conservative and uber-progressive trolls out there...
Well, guys, we have a middle-of-the road black Democratic president. Meaning, he may have a way to break the grid-lock. How refreshing.
He has an idea of governing outside your realms. He might actually have a third-course vision that will work. Anathema to you all.
I sincerely hope we will have a responsible press out there that will put Obama's feet to the fire, too. But that press is dying.
There are huge issues to be dissected and made intelligible. And a country that needs to get its' compass straight.
I don't much trust politicians, of any political stripe, who don't have dogs at their heels.
The running dogs of the mainstream press are being neutered.
What are you going to do to fill the void? Rant?
Not good enough.
God Help Our Country.
LAMBERT: Thanks, Paul. And as I say, for the time being this blog will remain here and ... I intend ... to add to it more often. But I appreciate your thoughts and while Clear Channel jocks for the most part did little to gnaw at the heels of the incompetents and scoundrels who brought this thing down, (my pal Chad being a thoughtful exception to that, albeit on a sports station), what they'll use to patch their calamity will almost certainly be worse.
Posted by: Paul Gustafson on January 21, 2009 at 12:18 AM
The resounding incantations of the Bush years are hopefully way, way behind us and that we can clearly see and hear the difference between their whiny finger-pointing "childish" behavior.
This past administration would commit calamitous acts of incompetence (i.e., outing a U.S. intelligence operative, conduct secret meetings with Enron and other oil executives to set prices inside the White House, bungle Katrina relief, mis-administer the civil control of Iraq after the invasion) and then play the PR blame game trying to divert attention form their horrible mistakes.
George W. Bush had no respect for truth and its consequences. He believed public accountability was more about how things appeared or could be spun to appear other than what they were in reality. If you delude yourself too long, reality will come crashing down around you feet and for the Republicans and their administration of the country reality crashed in and crashed hard on foreign and domestic fronts.
The contrasts of our past politics to today are stark. Bush and his neo-cons pursued a policy of dividing us and pitting sides against one another instead of unite and inspire a whole nation to solve problems and build a more perfect nation.
Doesn't divisive politics seem old, burnt out and tired. That Dick Cheney retribution-style of wielding power with the blunt side of an axe almost feels now to be generational and that Obama sweeps into office with a new post millennium generation that isn't bitter, apathetic and believes they can make a difference.
LAMBERT: The perverse irony is that Obama has a better opportunity BECAUSE things have been so royally bungled. Our child-like eyes -- the ones masking the stark fact that this was bullshit -- are pretty well open now, and he isn't gilding the message about tough times and sacrifice is he? Did he suggest we "go shopping" at any point yesterday?
Posted by: Robb on January 21, 2009 at 8:13 AM
Wonderfully put, Brian.
LAMBERT: Thank you, sir. [Wy is one of the original architects of "Politics in Minnesota"].
Posted by: Wy Spano on January 21, 2009 at 9:52 AM
As a Republican, I feel extreme disappointment over the Bush years.
Trying to pinpoint where things went wrong, right now I think that getting hit by 9/11 right out of the box permanently disabled the Bush administration.
Just like Great Depression survivors that couldn't stop saving tinfoil and twist ties, I think that obsessing (perhaps rightfully) over the prospect of getting nuked by terrorists led to bizarre behavior, errors in judgment and misplaced priorities.
Now I have to go back to my tinfoil collection. Why do people throw it away when it can still be used? Sinful. See you on the soupline Doogie, I also lost my job last year.
LAMBERT: I'm consoled by the fact that so many "traditional Republicans", gimlet-eyed types who practice high-skepticism in the presence of characters promising other worldly returns on minimum investments, rejected the Bush-Cheney version of their party ideology.
Posted by: Paul Kane on January 21, 2009 at 10:39 AM
Worst Inauguration Day plunge EVER on Wall Street. Super!
Obama fumbles the simple swearing-in lines fed to him by Chief Justice Roberts - worshipful media ignores completely - except for the Strib's Jill (Burrka) Burcum, who tries to blame Roberts....
LAMBERT: That putting "aside childish things" thing won't disappear in a day ...
Posted by: bertram jr. on January 21, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Sorry you got the ax Brian. I enjoy your take on local and national nutjobs! I remember receiving the ax sometime ago......I was 7 months pregnant, my husband had just been laid off and we had bought a car 5 days before my layoff (past the three day return policy)....then to torture me they said I had to stay on for a transition for almost 8 weeks and let me finally go, 10 days before the baby arrived. Labor was easy compared to those two months! Nice. We were both thankful to move on in retrospect...I look forward to following your next move. All the best.
LAMBERT: Thanks. At least I'll avoid the labor pains.
Posted by: Stephanie on January 21, 2009 at 12:39 PM
That struck me about Obama's speech as well. Especially since the speech demanded hard work and accountability from everybody, not just from government. It was really striking.
Good luck with yuor future endeavors, Brian. I know we have only met once, but I have always enjoyed your columns, and look forward to seeing where you wind up next.
LAMBERT: Thanks. (Max edits MnSpeak within Tom Bartel's "Secrets of the City" website.)
Posted by: Max "Bunny" Sparber on January 21, 2009 at 1:07 PM
First President to ever need to "do over" the Oath of Office....
I suppose with the stonewalling by the courts on the birth certificate (or lack thereof) problem, they wanted to be "extra sure".
OH, and the terrorists are being let out of Guantnomo....
At least the stock market is soaring....oh, that's right.
How "childish" of me.
LAMBERT: Do you need someone to read you "Goodnight, Bush" and tuck you in?
Posted by: bertram jr. on January 22, 2009 at 10:21 AM
"Putting aside childish things" in 1 Corinthians refers to our spiritual maturity. Why quote the Bible if our country doesn't even follow it anymore? I wish the President would have also included verse 13 which gives instructions on how we are to live: TRUST STEADILY IN GOD, HOPE UNSWERVINGLY, LOVE EXTRAVAGANTLY! Every dollar we spend gives one the impression our nation trusts God. Do we mean it or are we just faking it? This is what our country was built on and is our strength. I hope he and other Americans who are thankful to see him elected will also read and obey these words, and obey these principles. Then, instead of pointing fingers at this or that political party, maybe we will begin to see the America we are proud of return.
LAMBERT: I think he's saying that along with the noble believing thing it's time to actually stop pretending what is so ... isn't, and that we actually have to DO something.
Posted by: Janet on January 22, 2009 at 12:04 PM
"Burcum, who tries to blame Roberts...."
I've been looking at this comment board for the past day thinking: Do I really have to continue to respond to blindly partisan, divisive and frothing morons like bjr? I thought our national nightmare was over and done with and the village idiot was back on the plane to Crawford.
Even the very conservative William Safire pointed out John Roberts error and tried to excuse him because the justice didn't have time to rehearse but just like the last 8 years some wingnut extremist has to come along and try to spin the truth into an accusatory lie.
LAMBERT: bertram may be "a blindly partisan, divisive and frothing moron", but by God he's OUR frothing moron.
Posted by: Richard on January 22, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Who's afraid of the big bad wolf: Wall Street?
I suppose they have us shivering like cowards in the corner because they hold our purse strings -- our coveted 401Ks and future retirement -- but why do these fund managers and cowboy traders always seem to get away with bloody murder?
For the last few years Wall Street has been fleecing us with their fees and excessive executive salaries, and then their house of cards comes crashing down. So the taxpayer jumps in with billions and billions in bailouts with a blank check from their old crony buddy Henry Paulson and still their irrational lack of exuberance and excessive greed has noses flaring.
When will there be even the slightest modicum of accountability applied to these financial rogues?
LAMBERT: Rahm Emanuel I think is the key to this. Obama has serious economic stuff to focus on. But all the Justice Department needs is the clear understanding that this White House will not impede any investigation wherever it may lead.
Posted by: Robb on January 26, 2009 at 7:58 AM
Oh, dear, Richard, I believe your "national nightmare" is only just beginning...
But the fact is, The Messiah blew his lines.
No teleprompter, you know.
LAMBERT: Just checking, but if Hugh Hewitt said the sun rose in the West, you'd say what?
Posted by: bertram jr. on January 26, 2009 at 12:20 PM
Isn't it curious how truth means nothing to right wingnut extremists like bertram jr.?
LAMBERT: They prefer their own definition of "true", it is always much less inconvenient.
Posted by: Richard on January 27, 2009 at 9:06 AM