Listen to your mother

My 89 year old mom fortunately is still as sharp as a tack.  She drives, she reads two newspapers every day, watches 90 minutes of news every night, and goes out to lunch and movies with her friends.   I still chat with her almost every evening about a variety of topics and issues.  She is also a life-long very conservative Republican, a big supporter of the party from Eisenhower through Nixon, Reagan, and onto the Bushes. 

She has seen a lot of history, and that’s why what is happening now in this country is so disturbing to her … on several different levels.  First of all, she

is angry that a manufactured crisis on Capitol Hill has left the nation in a shambles, hurting it domestically, internationally, economically, and spiritually.  She has seen her investments, the money she lives on now, placed in jeopardy, creating great anxiety.   But perhaps more significant and more upsetting to her is witnessing the demise of her beloved GOP. As she said to me last night, “It is over for the Republican Party.”    

Like many, she is puzzled as to how a small faction of one political party could orchestrate a hijacking, not just of their own party, but of the American government, not for the betterment of the country but solely to advance a misguided agenda.  She wonders how Canadian-born Sen. Ted Cruz (who holds a dual citizenship with the US) could almost single-handedly guide the United States to the brink of financial collapse then claim, in defeat, that he would do it again.  All the while, the Speaker of the House yields his power to a minority within his own party, ignoring the calls of others to allow them to vote (as you normally would do in a democracy). 

She wonders when it all started to go wrong … when these supposedly grown men and women that we send to Washington lost sight of their role in America. She recalls the past when this didn’t happen and government functioned regardless of who was in power.  As she said, "Maybe I didn’t vote for the Democrats who were elected President but once they were in office, I respected them and realized their views and positions represented those of the majority of Americans.  That doesn’t happen anymore."

In the past, those who didn’t respect the office of the Presidency were from countries at war with the US. Now it is many our own people.  And they are people who, like those who espouse anti-American sentiment in other parts of the world, are doing what they can to undermine the democratic process, largely for their own advancement and the advancement of their ideological dogma.   

When I was a reporter, every once in a while a viewer with a gripe about the newscast would call the station and complain.  The news director at the time thought that since one viewer called in, it must represent the majority of the rest of the viewers who were just too lazy to pick up the phone and call in with their similar complaint.  One time, someone called and said the news was too negative and reported on too many bad things.  The news director’s neighbor told him the same thing.  Based on that, management  decided we would change directions and become the "good news” station. The station did promos proclaiming that no longer were we the bad news station, only good news.  Us reporters cringed, but more viewers called in saying they loved it … what a great idea.   The management was euphoric that they had finally tapped into the mindset of viewers and their decision was bolstered by more and more comments and calls.  The problem was, good news does not make for a newscast.  And over two years the majority of viewers (remember, those who don’t pick up the phone and call) had expressed their thoughts in another way.  They switched stations.  The ratings plummeted (and I do mean plummeted).  The geniuses who came up with the “good news” format were fired, and to this day, the ratings have never fully recovered.  What had gone wrong?  The same thing that is going wrong in Washington now.  The leaders listen to the vocal minority, gave them power, then let them drive the country (or the TV station) into the toilet.   Eventually they discover that these complainers and malcontents DO NOT represent the masses, but it’s too late.  The damage has been done.

I remember when News10 switched to the “good news” format.  My mom told me then that she started watching Channel 3 sometimes because she wasn’t getting the “news” from my station anymore.  She was the silent majority.  I hope it’s not too late in Washington now, and assuming it isn’t, perhaps they should start listening to my mother.  Ten years from now, they will thank her for her insight and wisdom.  Otherwise, American voters, like TV viewers, will hopefully look elsewhere for leadership.