Posted on 04/10/2005 8:55:40 PM PDT by L.N. Smithee
Tonight on 60 Minutes, Andy Rooney's monologue was on the coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II.
Rooney had newspapers from all over the globe strewn across his desk with essentially the same photograph of the Pontiff lying in state. He prattled on about the different angles of the pictures -- how some of them shot from the side, some from the bottom, how he only wore the red cape now that he had died, and was wearing brown shoes. He commented on how similar the Swiss language looked like German on the printed page. He mentioned how people who didn't share his beliefs were respectful to him nonetheless.
Then, Rooney does what Rooney does -- he put his foot in his mouth. I wasn't taping it, so I can't quote him verbatim, but he said something about how it's good that the story is winding down because people have had enough of it. And he added, 'At least this kept Terri Schiavo off the front page. We didn't need any more of that!'
I said, "Yeah, you jackass, the Pope knocked her off the front page. Sorry she couldn't die any sooner for you!"
I almost coughed up my sandwich.
Glad I wasn't drinking anything or I would need yet another new keyboard.
VFS (Very Funny Stuff)
Thanks for the ping!
I've turned off the TV altogether. I only seem to turn it on to check out the weather forecast...
I will boldly predict that the networks will fold up their news operations within five years. They're dead and buried.
Ummm... that'll be $100 please (10 bucks per toe) !!! ;-))
What a nasty little man.
His Holiness was a great man, of course his death and funeral rites are going to be front page news. I quit watching because MSM was talking over the Mass, and I was getting steamed.
Sadly there are more arses just like him. The spec ed teacher's aide here said much the same in class right in front of the children.
I, frankly, wish something would knock him off of all media everywhere!
Well, one needs to consider if anyone would want to live in his condition....you know, I WOULDN'T! Maybe it is time that he just go to his lord? </sarcasm
"He commented on how similar the Swiss language looked like German on the printed page."
What a coincidence!!!!!!!!!
Mickey Rooney was also at Reagan's funeral, he absolutely loved Ronnie (and Nancy too).
I just came out of a meeting where everyone echoed the same sentiment. I was steaming!
"Is Swiss different from German? Looks like German."
If you want to keep Andy guessing, just speak Swiss.
Was he trying to be funny? Just pathetic anyway.
[barf alert] please
You, and Rooney, are entitled to your opinion. But when you say something like this, you are viewing the situation from your own narrow perspective; 'I don't want to have to read about this every day anymore!' I, I, I, me, me, me. As if someone was forcing you to do so.
When you look at the big picture instead, you should recognize that this story held the attention of the public for about half a month for a reason: it addresses one of the two inevitablities in life, i.e. death. This was not a media controversy created to fit a politicized agenda, as were the New York Times' attempts to smear President Bush with the fake memo and Howell Raines' crusade to destroy the Augusta National Golf Club if it didn't bend to the will of Martha Burk (a quick aside: IBM and SBC sponsored this year's superb Masters tourney after two years of CBS broadcast without them, a testimony to the weakness of the "outrage").
I don't know how old you are, but I can tell you that the country was just as gripped and conflicted back in the late '70s when brain-damaged, comatose Karen Ann Quinlan's family was fighting to have her removed from a ventilator (and a nasal feeding tube) and her hospital's administration -- citing, among other things, the Hippocratic oath -- refused to take an action that they thought would ensure her certain death. After finally winning the right to check her out of the hospital, Quinlan hung on for nearly ten years more, being cared for by her family until she died of pneumonia, not her cerebral damage suffered while partying with drugs and alcohol.
Terri's case was similar to Quinlan's, but with a key difference: unmarried Quinlan's parents were united, fighting for the right to allow their daughter to die. Michael Schiavo was fighting Terri's parents for the right to put his wife to death. Never forget this fact: before attempting to remove her feeding tube, after his 'remembrance' of Terri's 'wish' not to be kept alive in her condition, Michael Schiavo tried to prevent treatment of a urinary infection that he knew would take Terri's life if allowed to spread.
In my opinion, what you and Rooney are saying is, "I don't care about this story, and I don't think other people should care, either." There is nothing inherently wrong with saying something like that, but most of the time, it doesn't have the ring of "Why doesn't (a certain person) just drop dead so I, I, I, me, me, me don't have to read about (him/her)?" and any way you slice it, that's a cruel thing to say.
I also believe that Rooney's spewing is another glimpse into MSM culture. I heavily doubt that if John Paul II was pushed off the front page by another tragic event, Rooney would have dared say what he said about Terri about the Pope (or at least, CBS wouldn't allow him to say it).
Add this to my statement about how what he said is a glimpse into MSM culture and how he wouldn't have said what he said about Terri about the Pope.
I sit there all alone reading, drinking coffee and having opinions -- some of which I wouldn’t dare tell you about because I don’t want you to hate me.
That's amazing! Maybe s/he didn't think the children were intelligent enough to ascertain the implications of Terri's starvation to them!
And thank you for your brave and so very disciplined service to our great country. The few, the proud, .... :-)
Bump your ping, STARWISE. And thanks.
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