Thursday, March 20, 2014

Newton Minow, Former Intellectual Big Fish, Becomes an Aged, Illogical Little Fingerling

March 20th, 2014 CBS Radio 780 AM Chicago: Minow
supports Rauner for IL governor in November. Can he really
believe a man who made millions through his hedge fund
business is right for Illinois? Hedge funds aren't regulated;
their managers (owners) pay little in taxes relative to other
enterprises. A governor must be able to respect/obey laws
(i.e., regs), understand the proper roles taxation plays in
an orderly, caring and civilized society.
(--Police and firemen, anyone??)

For most of my adult life I've respected Mr. Minow, a giant
of thoughtful, incisive and insightful communication. An
attorney and former head of the FCC, he gained fame 50+
years back deriding TV as a "vast wasteland", which it was
and still is, excellent, exceptional programming not to the
contrary, infrequent as it is.

--But now? Mr. Minow, rightly observing  Illinois' grave,
even desperate, financial condition, wrongly concludes an
extreme right wing super rich executive who publicly stated
his desire to lower the state's minimum wage, then denies it, is
just what we need. He could have supported Kirk Dillard, a
consensus-minded republican with experience and the necessary
gravitas.

Newton Minow now carries out the meaning of his name:
just another little fish in reality's chaotic gale-tossed oceans
where we want whales with uncommon sense and sound
judgment.

6 comments:

  1. Hit another one right on the nail Lady Amber. On Gilligan;s Island that ill fated pittiful ship named THE S S MINOW? Just a thought.

    Illinois is broke , getting worse by the second. There are those that care but it seems to me few and far between. The NEW YORKIZATION, MANHATTANIZATION of Chicago by their mayor continues I hope some answers come soon. Kin in other states urge me and mine to leave ILL-INOIS, I am listening and thinking about it more.GOD HELP US. Enjoy the LOVELY weather Lady Amber.

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    1. If you truly WOULD be better off elsewhere you should go, but consider carefully, taking your time. As for me, I always want to escape every place I've ever lived, so I think it's just me, that there are problems everywhere, to some degree. Heaven is not on Earth, but at times Hell sure seems to be....

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    2. Mr. N, you always can be counted on for humor! (the Gilligan reference). Even if you move there is always the web to keep in touch.

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  2. Just for the record, the "vast wasteland" observation has been widely attributed to a gentleman named John Bartlow Martin. In fairness to Mr. Minow, I don't know whether or not he's actually ever taken credit for that quote. However, his support for Bruce Rauner doesn't reflect well on him. Gonna close with a mini-rant: Mr. Rauner and anyone else who claims that "government should be run like a business" should be subjected to extreme torture ---- thousands and thousands of paper cuts!

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    1. Just for the record, those words WERE first spoken in Minow's first major speech upon becoming head of the FCC back then. Martin well may have suggested the phrase, but it was Minow who made that comment public--Martin is NOT widely known by all. I remember hearing and reading Minow on the news at the time. Martin's actual comment to Minow was that TV is "a vast wasteland of junk"; Minow edited out "junk".

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