Why I don’t mourn Walter Cronkite

The Virginian ^ | 7/18/2009 | Moneyrunner

[moneyrunner]

Walter Cronkite is dead and I extend my sympathy to this relatives and friends who grieve. As for me, I cannot find it in myself to mourn his passing. I watched his version of the news constantly, recalling his famous closing line “and that’s the way it is.” The problem is, as I learned later, that’s not the way it was.

Walter Cronkite was labeled ...“the most trusted man in America.” He, and many others, used that trust to create an aura around the news business that it has taken literally decades to reveal as a false front. At a time when information was one-way and media outlets were severely limited in number, the version of reality that was reflected by Walter Cronkite shaped public opinion so massively that opposing opinions stood no chance. That is why it was Walter Cronkite who ended America’s quest for victory in Viet Nam.

In mid-February, in the immediate aftermath of the Tet Offensive, both Gallup and Harris noted a surge in American support for the war. Both pollsters said 61% of Americans favored a stronger military response against the North Vietnamese Army. 70% of Americans favored increased bombing of North Vietnamese targets, which was up from 63% in the previous December.

Then came Cronkite's February 27 commentary.

In early March, just a few days later, 49% of Americans said it was a mistake to have entered the Vietnam conflict. Only 35% believed the war would end within two years. 69% now approved of a phased withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam.*

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

I read the Wikipedia article on Cronkite. Talk about hijacked by the left. In a way, the article is a fitting tribute to Cronkite: withholding facts and editorializing while deceitfully maintaining a mask of objectivity. Unfortunately, if America's youth reads Wikipedia to learn about Cronkite, they will not be learning the truth about the man.

Wikipedia is a member of the MSM, neither more nor less. It is reliable, pretty much, where the subject matter has no political implications - say, an article about computers or such.

But you must always be alert for the possibility of political implications, and judge the reliability of the article accordingly. Just as with The New York Times.

[CurlyQ]

I remember several years ago I was watching TV with my then 87 year old Grandma and Walter was on some special she muted the television and gave Walter the finger and called a lying commie son of a btch.