The American Spectator

It was pretty clear from the get go that, in choosing Dan Rather over Roger Mudd, CBS went with flash instead of serious presentation. And from the get go it was also pretty clear that Mr. Rather was a lightweight. I grew up when news was, at least in appearance, serious business; my god, at the beginning of the program CBS aired nothing but the sound of the news ticker in the background just to remind you that you were at the place where news was job one. I believe NBC used a portion of Beethoven’s 9th symphony as the theme music — nothing casual about that.

p>Back then it was all serious and presented by serious men. Did personal views ever get in front of a story, in those days? I remember, occasionally Mr. Mudd would offer up a wry smile at the end of a report, just to let you know there was more to be said, but it was also a signal that, due to an understood sense of propriety and journalistic integrity, some things can’t be the subject of commentary — at least in a news report. Besides, that’s what Eric Severeid was for. Back then, the sad spectacle of “fake but accurate” would never have occurred to anyone, I don’t believe. br> — Michael Presley br> Lake Mary, Florida /p> p> YOUR COAT, SENATOR br> Re: John Tabin’s The Sarbanes Opening : /p>

I second John Tabin’s thoughts on retiring U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes: Good Riddance. But as a native Marylander, I’d like to go even further than Mr. Tabin in denouncing the senior senator from the Old Line State.

Paul Sarbanes has never been more than a useful idiot for the Democratic Party. He’s a complete hack who could always be counted on to vote the Party Line on any issue. Until recently, the Dems have had a complete death-grip on Maryland politics, much to the state’s detriment, and Sarbanes is exemplary of the problem. As Tabin argues, perhaps Sarbanes most notable moment (in his long and uninspiring Senate tenure) was the regulation-gone-amok Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which came near the twilight of his career.

However, I’ll always choose to remember Sarbanes for a choice moment that occurred in the 1970s. Sarbanes was an ardent supporter of busing in Baltimore, claiming (of course) that forced integration was for the betterment of society. Because he was a city resident, his children would naturally be subject to the new regulations, except for the fact that Sarbanes sent his sons to the prestigious, private Gilman School in Roland Park, one of Baltimore’s most exclusive neighborhoods. Hypocrisy — how utterly consistent with liberalism!