Broadcast News

This isn't a newsflash, at the hour in which I'm posting it, but I'm somewhat surprised and a little saddened by the death of Peter Jennings. I found Jennings most interesting when he was away from the anchor desk; I occasionally saw him in speeches or panel discussions on C-SPAN and the like, and I own a copy of that The Century book of his. I'd hoped that he would be able to beat back the cancer for a while, but I guess not. Oh well. I remember way back when Peter Jennings was the London correspondent for ABC News, back when Frank Reynolds was the main anchor.

But Alan, in commenting about Jennings's death, offers this link, the contents of which I don't find surprising at all. To some, it seems that Jennings was little more than one of the Hydra's heads, the Hydra being the "Mainstream Media", or MSM, a construction that's always baffled me since apparently the "Mainstream Media" is bad, and yet, those who bitch about the "Mainstream Media" are also always claiming that liberals like myself are "outside the mainstream". So which is it, guys?

Here are a few quotes:

:: Anyway, I never really loathed the man like I did Dan Rather (even after his shabby 9/11 performance). That's about the nicest tribute I can come up with.

:: If being an eager and willing mouthpiece for Yasser Arafat year after year is doing good, then Peter Jennings can indeed be said to have done 'good'. For my part, I think I may play a little Toby Keith in his honor.

:: Out of the three, he was the least offensive.

:: ''RIP, Peter. You did good.'' From one amoral, Jew-hater to another. I hope he repented of his enormous evil by the time he died.

:: I was taught that if you couldn't say anthing nice about a person, don't say anything. You'll understand why I don't comment on Jennings' pomposity, his anti-american attitude and the over adulation extended to a newsreader. (Except that you just did comment on those things, dumb-ass!)

Well, isn't that nice. Thanks for playing, guys.

Hell, I wonder some of the denizens of Little Green Footballs think?

::Too bad he did his best to add to the burden that Israelis face.

Sorry. I can't be sad. This guy was a schmuck, and the world is better off without him and his terror-loving ilk.

I hope he doesn't rest in peace.

:: the Torah tells us not to gloat at the downfall of our enemies; vengeance belongs to G-d alone; so I will not gloat at the death of Jennings the Jew-hater

:: Jennings was a America-hating, self-important twerp who trashed Israel at every opportunity. "Deliver a rough-draft of history" my ass. He was as biased as it is possible to get for a journalist and he knew it. I will never forget the wonderful evenings Peter provided by forcing viewers like me to shut off the TV, as that ponderous douchebag sniffed "cycle of violence" in the aftermath of bus bombings.

I do not wish death on my political enemies, and hope he gets a dose of clarity from God, and that he gets a chance to RIP.

But still, can't help thinking the world is a better place today. May as well be honest. I'll pay my respects to the nameless guys who fell on grenades at Iwo Jima, or the 18 year old anonymous kids gunned down at Normandy.... I'll save my tears for them.

You can find a bit more of the same at the Free Republic thread, although as of this writing the rabid MSM-haters seem to be withholding their pleasure a bit, and I did find this very nice comment there:

One really kind thing I can say about Peter, is that on thie New Year's Eve coming into the year 2000, he did a magnificent job...dancing from fireworks display to fireworks display.

(Remember, there was all the gloom-and-doom about Y2K.)

I told my honey at the time, "He is anchoring this like Fred Astaire."

I remember that as well.

I have rarely watched network news in the last five years or more, so Peter Jennings isn't that much of a factor for me. Neither were Rather or Brokaw. But I always liked what I saw in Jennings, and I'm sorry that he's gone.