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The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same

By Last Night in Little Rock, Section War In Iraq
Posted on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 11:40:30 AM EST
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by Last Night in Little Rock

For years I wanted to read about the revered Eric Sevareid of CBS News (the reason why below the jump). I collected four books about him, and I'm on vacation reading them. The current biography is from 1995.

I find that in 1965, Morley Safer was covering the Vietnam War for CBS News, and they caputured on film a U.S. Marine using his Zippo lighter to set thatched huts on fire. Back in NYC, the CBS News hierarchy immediately realized the import of what they had, and it ran on the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite on August 5, 1965.

Johnson administration officials questioned Safer's loyalty to America and demanded that he be dismissed, but CBS stood by him. Yet it would be a mistake to remember the media's role as one of opposition to the war. For the most part, until 1968, the mainstream media shared the administration's goals. Only gradually did they question first the effectiveness of the means used, and then their morality.

Wikipedia is more blunt:

Safer's report on this event was broadcast on CBS News and was among the first reports to paint a bleak picture of the Vietnam War. President Lyndon Baines Johnson called CBS's president and accused Safer and his colleagues of having "shat on the American flag."

So, TL readers, is de rigeur for those conducting the war of the day to question the loyalty of any American who questions that war, whatever the time period. It belongs to no political party. Apparently never did.

Eric Sevareid went off the air in 1977. I remember him vividly as a teenager, delivering a 2-4 minute analysis of the news of the day at the end of the CBS News. Where I grew up, before cable, we had one local station that was a CBS affiliate and a CBC station whose antenna was only 25 miles away. It was CBS and Hockey Night in Canada. I am back there now.

And Safer? He was born and raised in Canada. Wikipedia doesn't tell us whether he was a naturalized U.S. citizen.

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    The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same | 8 comments (8 topical)
    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#1)
    by dutchfox on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:02:55 PM EST
    LNiLR, thanks very much. I remember back in the 60s, along with Cronkite, there was Sevareid. What I remember mostly was Eric Sevareid's *voice* - matter-of-fact, and yet, it was a voice I could trust. I asked my mom at the time about him and she said he'd got his start in CBS radio years before.

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:10:56 PM EST
    LNILR - No, it is no more required for an administration to challenge the patroitism of its critics as it is for those critics to call the administration liars, killers, etc. A dose of common courtesy applied on a slice of common sense would do wonders for everyone. Unfortunately, I think the situation is well past that.

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#3)
    by cpinva on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:24:51 PM EST
    LNILR - No, it is no more required for an administration to challenge the patroitism of its critics as it is for those critics to call the administration liars, killers, etc.
    well jim, when the administration lies, calling them liars is perfectly legitimate. since this administration is directly responsible for the avoidable deaths of who knows how many people, calling them killers isn't a real stretch either. common courtesy doesn't require flinching from the truth, contrary to what karl rove may have told you. geez, surely you can do better, this is low hanging fruit.

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#4)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 12:59:47 PM EST
    A dose of common courtesy applied on a slice of common sense would do wonders for everyone Uncommon Courtesy

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:25:45 PM EST
    Great to see you post, LNILR, we've missed you. Happy 4th.

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 01:34:49 PM EST
    LNILR I, too, remember well the thoughtful commentaries of Eric Severeid. I was a big fan, and also a fan of Daniel Schorr, also of CBS. They had an all-star lineup, and weren't in the least afraid to question conventional thinking. Would that today's journalists had half so much intellect.

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#7)
    by Che's Lounge on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 07:24:27 PM EST
    Even back then listening/watching Severeid was like my grandpa giving me his daily piece of sage advice. Even at 15 I lingered on his commentary as long as I could. He made us think. (sigh) And speaking of Nam: How come we don't all speak Vietnamese? Because we didn't lose. Win versus lose is for idiots. We bailed, and rightly so. The whole thing was going nowhere. The best thing that could have happened did happen. The killing of, and by our troops stopped. Vietnam went through a period of upheaval and now has full diplomatic ties with US and is a member of the world community. And communism does not rule Southeast Asia. Over(2 million plus)58,000 dead for America's violent imperialism. Cheney and Bush are carrying on this insane foreign policy in the Middle East. They are lying to us even as I write this. How can Bush smirk in front of the cameras with what is going on in Iraq?

    Re: The More Things Change, The More They Remain t (none / 0) (#8)
    by Sailor on Mon Jul 03, 2006 at 08:35:31 PM EST
    No, it is no more required for an administration to challenge the patroitism of its critics as it is for those critics to call the administration liars, killers, etc.
    But the admin did lie, on many many occasion. They are kiling people, every day. One statement is true, the other is a personal attack on ALL critics, most whom didn't call them liars or killers. the admin doesn't have any facts to rebut them with so they have to use smear; patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.

    The More Things Change, The More They Remain the Same | 8 comments (8 topical)