Posted on 07/23/2005 8:06:40 AM PDT by Excuse_My_Bellicosity
LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley "was not and is not happy with the war in Iraq," CBS newsman Mike Wallace said Friday. "He deplores what's going on there."
The longtime reporter, who interviewed Hinckley for "60 Minutes" in 1995, was in Utah to participate in Hinckley's 95th birthday gala at the LDS Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
"It wasn't an interview situation, so I didn't press'' Hinckley, Wallace told a half-dozen or so reporters. "But I was sorry I didn't have a camera."
LDS spokesman Dale Bills was quick to say the church "has no position on the war in Iraq" and that Wallace's comments were "his own characterization of a private conversation."
The comments were made at a church-arranged news conference Friday morning where the tanned, relaxed Wallace spoke about his fondness for Mormons, who really wrote his tribute to Hinckley, and how he justifies praising Hinckley when he may cover him again one day.
Wallace said he has never "had a relationship with any clergyman." He is Jewish, but not "a pious or religious fellow." And he wouldn't have agreed to speak at a party for Evangelist Billy Graham or Pope John Paul II. But it's different with Hinckley, leader of the 12 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The two have been friends since 1995; Wallace said he had come away impressed by Hinckley's "courage and imagination." He later wrote the preface to Hinckley's 1999 best-seller, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes.
When Mormon officials first approached Wallace about the party, the newsman balked. He doesn't like the stress of travel. So Utah businessman Earl Holding offered to send his private jet to pick up Wallace and the deal was struck.
Beyond that, Wallace acknowledged Friday that he only edited his 8- to 10-minute birthday tribute to Hinckley. Hinckley's official biographer, Sheri Dew, wrote the piece.
"A patsy for the Mormon church? Me?" he asked somewhat facetiously. "Because I have the feelings I do [for Hinckley], I figure I'll get a pass on this."
Wallace doesn't worry about being criticized by his colleagues at CBS, he said. "I'm over the hill anyway, so they don't care what I'm doing."
Although the gala was broadcast on KSL-TV, an NBC affiliate, CBS has the right to take what they want from the event, and Wallace said he may do an update on the 1995 interview.
That's where the conflict might arise.
"If he did another story on Hinckley, I would find it problematic," said Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion at University of Southern California.
Wallace is hardly ready to convert, but he is impressed by Mormons he meets.
"When you come out here and talk to people, you look in their eyes, they're so damned happy," he said. "Everyone looks so innocent. Maybe there's something we've been missing."
As for journalists, the 87-year-old cautioned newcomers not to let skepticism "curdle into cynicism."
When he first went to work at CBS, he said, it was like "working for the Mother Church." He was thrilled to be involved and still loves the work.
But today's journalism "ain't what it used to be," he said. "It is too much hubbub, too many channels, too much gossip and infotainment. The bad can drive out the good."
pstack@sltrib.com
Good luck with this thread. The Romney/Mormon thread from yesterday was removed.
Perhaps Gordon should ask some of his wives what they think.
The Mormons I know are almost universally good folks, but Hinkley should keep his private thoughts private when talking with a CBS reporter, even a 'friend'.
We'll see how it goes.
With Mike Wallace's track record, I'm seriously doubting that it was even said, but who knows? Gordon Hinckley is a nice guy to a fault. I wouldn't give CBS's janitorial staff the time of day, much less Mike Wallace or anybody else over there.
What a brave, bold journalist ol' Mike Wallace is... seeking out someone he knows agrees with him to fabricate a "story".
Not funny. He was married to one woman for something like 70 years until she died last year. A great/model marriage.
Maybe it's the same confusion that caused Billy Graham to allow Bill and Hillary to sit on the platform during his crusadde in New York?
One can "deplore" what is going on in Iraq (homicide bombings) while still supporting the USA's efforts to introduce democracy. Pres. Hinckley's earlier statements seem to indicate his support overall, but just about EVERYONE DEPLORES the wanton killings of innocents by terrorists. The slant by Wallace or the S. L. Tribune - a liberal, antiMormon biased paper - leads to a mis-read of GBH's comments.
I'll bet you're right, I'm sure Mike Wallace is hearing what he wants to hear without even realizing it. You have to think that way to be a liberal. To him it isn't bias, it's reporting what's "right".
You are right.
That's true, Gordon and his wife married in 1937 (that date blows me away). Sadly, she died just days before their 67th anniversary. http://www.lds.org/newsroom/showrelease/0,15503,4085-1-19152,00.html
Lest we forget that the terrorist propaganda machine is alive and well and going strong in the jolly old Main Stream Media.
Just another Hate America,Hate President Bush hit piece.
This is true. Several of my collegues are Mormon and they are cheerful, hard working, and admirable in every way.
From what I hear, they are toning down the wacky theology and rituals, and trying to become more of a mainstream Christian church, while still preserving all the family values and work ethic that made them thrive over the years. More power to them.
-ccm
I think that was for instructive purposes. "Accept Christ and change your ways, or end up like these two evil reprobates sitting beside me!"
-ccm
This is not about Gordon, it's about Wallace. Wallace is obsessed with this war and any opportunity he can get to have someone talk negatively about it, he does. I actually saw him ask Loretta Lynn, in the middle of an hour long interview about her life and career, "WHAT ARE WE DOING IN IRAQ." He asked this question out of the blue. It was unbelievable.
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