Cronkite, the way he wasn’t
: I just spoke with a trusted friend who attended the talk by Walter Cronkite that got quoted widely this week, with Cronkite lashing into George Bush for “arrogance” and saying that he had deep fears for the future as being “very, very dark.”
My friend — who once respected Cronkite — said he’s downright wiffy now.
He was asked who he respected who was alive today and he listed nothing but the long dead (e.g., Willy Brandt).
He droned on so long that people just started leaving.
Cronkite has turned into a hectoring old crone lately (even lecturing Stuttering John on Howard Stern).
I fear he bought his own publicity from LBJ, who said that he knew he had lost the country when he lost Cronkite. Walter: Johnson was speaking of you as a symbol, not a man; you were the chair you sat in and you don’t sit there anymore. And when you sat there, your great skill was reading out loud.