Interesting that you've never heard of Lewis Lapham. It must follow then that you've never heard of Harper's.

Oh, and it's Mencken ... H.L. Mencken. Of Baltimore.

and it might be what the artist wrote - that "Objectivity" and "neutrality", like many other critically useful concepts, have been co-opted and corrupted by a mainstream celebrity journalism.

But celebrating Cronkite ultimately means celebrating something which seems to be very rare

in America - A person - a 'institution' you can trust to tell you the truth and not some type of 'ideological bull.... And again if you don't like to call it 'objectivity' call it: dealing-with-facts-or conditions-as-perceived-without-distortion-by personal-feelings-prejudices-or-interpretations - and without any doubt Mr. Cronkite was a master in this Art - and THAT"S why he is celebrated!

Of Baltimore.

Maryland?

That Baltimore?

Really.

the amount of ideological bull... on this blog sometimes is mind-boggling and the 'fact' that I like it - (because it's my type of bull...) - doesn't mean I don't see it!

Yes, that Baltimore. There's only one Baltimore city, just as there's only one Baltimore butterfly.

It's amazing what kind of facts you can come up with (or clarifications for wayward pontificators) if you just look it up.

I do this, as a public service, in honor of great American journalists like Walter Cronkite, H.L. Mencken (of Baltimore), and the more obscure yet respected Lewis Lapham.

Interesting that you've never heard of Lewis Lapham. It must follow then that you've never heard of Harper's.

Its not only interesting but extremely curious that I've not heard of Mr Lapham by name before, as I've known of and read Harpers on and off occasionally whenever a copy wafted my way for the passed forty bloody years!

What I liked is the touch of old school in the writing. I got the impression that there is a body of culture behind his it. That the fellows got "Bottom" as we say in England. So many writers today don't feel like they have got that. I mean I like people like Taibbi & Charlie Brooker from the Guardian. But Brooker particularly would probably admit to having about as much culture as the last advert that flashed before his eyes on the plasma. They are seat of the pants people cheerfully winging it, taking pride in having absolutely no strings or DNA linking them to the past whatsoever. Lapham's writing appears to have a lineage that stretches back even before the invention of MTV.

I mean that guy must be seriously ancient or something.

And if you knew my dad's political views, that's all you'd need to know to think well of Cronkite. And I am old enough to remember Walter, and my father screaming at his TV whilst watching Uncle Walt "betray" the U.S. for his reporting about Vietnam.

Yes, it's interesting that you've never heard of Lapham, more so since you've evidently quaffed Harper's many times over the PASSED forty bloody years !!!

I beg your pardon.

This is perhaps that single most important issue affecting our ability to function successfully as a free society. Without an independent press to report accurately and truthfully, and with occasional insight into how to interpret the facts, we will continue our descent into a future that looks ever more Orwellian.

Oh, and it's Mencken ... H.L. Mencken. Of Baltimore.

So what's with the "Of Balitmore" business about? Did you feel obliged to mention where he came from lest I mixed the H.L. Menchen up with all the other H.L. Menchens that poured off the end of the Ford assembly line in Detroit then?

I remember a lot of deaths, but this one is important for what we've lost. Integrity and a good feeling from citizen involvement. With the degradation of our news, I'm sure your hero songs will be sung every now and again. From those that remember, travel well.

Thanks for this, Glenn. A breath of fresh air amid so many sanitized selective memories. Cronkite was the last member of the broadcast media's top tier to value truth over access, and substance over style. Let's never forget that the suits at CBS forced him out the anchor chair at age 64(!) rather than risk losing Rather. And we all know how THAT turned out. What "the most trusted man in America" still had to offer was valued less than egotistical razzle-dazzle. As for Brokaw, Williams et al., they've mastered self-referential reflected glory, which reached its apogee last year during the Russert bathos. Your word choice was perfect: "preening." What they do best.

There was only one H.L. Mencken, wise guy, just as there was only one Walter Cronkite.

Your "old school body of culture" is showing, as usual.

News out of SC today (h/t TPM Muckraker):

All the networks aggressively wooed Sanford's office in the period during and just after his disappearance, in an effort to convince that their show offered the perfect forum for him to address the controversy. CNN's John King told Sawyer he had always appreciated Sanford's "kindness, candor, and hospitality," and added, in a transparent attempt to bond, "I'm all for anonymous escapes myself." George Stephanopoulos offered his show, ABC's This Week, as a "civil forum to address this week's events." And producers for CBS's Face the Nation, ABC's Good Morning America, several Fox shows, and many others gave Sanford's office the hard sell too.

David Gregory, channeling Russert, promised Sanford's people they could frame the conversation anyway they like.

Isn't that precious?

From Cronkite:

What do I regret? Well, I regret that in our attempt to establish some standards, we didn't make them stick. We couldn't find a way to pass them on to another generation.

There's sort of this strange idea floating around that mainstream journalists and politicians should just up and do the right thing for our interests without our having to do anything, when they never have prior to this moment in history, and likely never will.

Cronkite and Thompson were responding to the protests and rebellion of their age, not leading the charge. That's another facet of history that's forgotten--there are no "great men", only those in the elite class sophisticated enough to see which way the wind is blowing, and go with it.

We've not only forgotten the origins of Mother's Day, but also why we have the middle class, why our lives are somewhat bearable and prosperous, why we have the weekend, etc., etc. on and on--because our ancestors stood up and fought for those things. They weren't just handed down by benevolent leaders, nor originally called for in the papers of record. They were demanded from the bottom up.

If things get so bad that someday Brian Williams is calling for change on the nightly news, the tide will have already turned, yet many people will likely only remember that Brian Williams "led the charge".

This is where we get the "great men" version of history--those who only "protest" when it is safe and popular to do so only see those holding on the coattails of the people who took the real risks.

Until we figure out a way to reward and recognize the ones who truly went first will progress happen more easily and quickly, because people will finally understand that it is a group effort, and "great leaders" are only the followers.