Obama's Inaugural Address

“As times change, so must we,” President Barack Obama said in his eloquent and inspiring inaugural address, delivered to several hundred thousand witnesses gathered in front of the U.S. Capitol.  He continued, “Fidelity to our founding principles requires new responses to new challenges; that preserving our individual freedoms ultimately requires collective action.”

Mr. Obama’s address marked the beginning of his second term as president.  The remarks fell on Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and focused heavily on civil rights, equality and fairness for all.  “We, the people, declare today that the most evident of truths – that all of us are created equal,” he said, “just as it guided our forebears through Seneca Falls, and Selma, and Stonewall.”   

The president, citing and end of a decade of war, and the nascent economic recovery, said, “America’s possibilities are limitless.”  He then gave the nation a clarion call, “My fellow Americans, we are made for this moment, and we will seize it – so long as we seize it together. “

House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who were seated on the platform near President Obama, showed no emotion during the address.  But the president delivered a message intended for his opposition.  “The commitments we make to each other – through Medicare, and Medicaid, and Social Security – these things do not sap our initiative; they strengthen us.  They do not make us a nation of takers; they free us to take the risks that make this country great. “

And, in reference to the partisan divisiveness that has created great turmoil in the halls of Congress for the past four years, Mr. Obama said, “We cannot mistake absolutism for principle, or substitute spectacle for politics, or treat name-calling as reasoned debate.”

Yet some of the issues the president highlighted, in his nineteen-minute address, are sure to meet resistance from Republicans in Congress.  Mr. Obama devoted a paragraph to climate change, which wasn’t even debated during the presidential campaign.    Speaking of gun control, the president said, “Our journey is not complete until all our children, from the streets of Detroit to the hills of Appalachia to the quiet lanes of Newtown, know that they are cared for, and cherished, and always safe from harm.” 

Mr. Obama took on criticism of his handling of Iran’s nuclear program, “We will show the courage to try and resolve our differences with other nations peacefully – not because we are naïve about the dangers we face, but because engagement can more durably lift suspicion and fear.”

In many ways, President Obama’s speech was a continuation of his campaign to engage women, gays, immigrants and the middle class.  “For we, the people, understand that our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.  We believe that America’s prosperity must rest upon the broad shoulders of a rising middle class.”  But he warned of tough choices ahead to reduce health care costs and the deficits.  Nonetheless, he said,  “But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.”

The president spoke confidently, with clarity and purpose.  His speech laid out a progressive agenda, yet it was grounded in the values and intentions of America’s Founding Fathers.  “Being true to our founding documents does not require us to agree on every contour of life,” he said, “Progress does not compel us to settle centuries-long debates about the role of government for all time – but it does require us to act in our time.”

As President Barack Obama entered the Capitol building, following his address, he turned and looked out at the crowd, and the Washington Monument in the distance.  He then smiled.

Broadcast News at 20

In July 1984, Democrats convened in San Francisco for what they hoped would be an historic convention that would impel them on to the White House. I had a front row seat working as the “podium producer” for CBS News with correspondent Bruce Morton. Dan Rather anchored our coverage from a three-story booth located across the floor. The air was electric when Geraldine Ferraro was nominated as the party’s vice presidential candidate, the highest position in government for which a woman had been nominated.

On the Friday morning following the convention I awakened in my Fairmont Hotel Suite truly inspired. I rolled over to face the woman I loved, and had been living with for five years, and I proposed we elope that afternoon in San Francisco. Susan Zirinsky immediately accepted and I called City Hall.

Susan had worked the convention as Ed Bradley’s floor producer. At five feet tall she was called “Tiny Z” by most of her colleagues but was respected as a formidable dynamo. CBS News allowed us to work together as producers in the Washington bureau, in fact at the time I was her boss, and they assigned us to the same hotel room when we traveled together on assignments.

Susan and I arrived at City Hall early in the afternoon and grabbed a couple of seats in the bustling and crowded courtroom. Love was in the air. When our names were called we stepped forward to the judge’s bench, and were married in about the same amount of time as an average evening news report. We raced out of the courthouse and posed for our “official” wedding picture with the words “City Hall” framed behind us on the door.

In the cab back to the hotel Susan suddenly remembered that she had an appointment in an hour with a Hollywood producer named James L. Brooks. She really didn’t know much about him other than he was a successful producer researching a movie about women in television.

We called our parents from the hotel, then Dan Rather, Walter Cronkite and a few other close friends. Soon the champagne and caviar arrived, but Susan was off to her appointment.

Susan met Jim in the hotel lobby and they went to a quiet place nearby where they sat and talked. At the outset Susan said, “If I really like you I will tell you something interesting that happened to me today.” The conversation then progressed for a couple hours when, finally, Susan blurted out, “And so I got married today.”

Excitedly Jim asked, “Wow, when? Where’s your husband?”

“If I know him he is back at the hotel taking a nap,” she said.

I remember stepping off the hotel elevator and into the enthusiastic embrace of a bearded stranger who was acting as if he had won the mega-lottery. “Wow, great to meet you!” he said, “Wow this is so great!” “Wow!” So, on that sunny July 20 in San Francisco, Susan and I began a remarkable and amazing friendship as well as our marriage. 

As part of his extensive research for “Broadcast News,” Jim visited newsrooms, he went to black-tie galas and he attended White House briefings. But Jim’s roots were at CBS News, where he began in 1964 as a writer. Later Jim jumped into programming at ABC. Then in 1970 he went to work for Grant Tinker as the creator and producer of the brilliant Mary Tyler Moore Show. This was the first time in network television a leading character had been an independent career woman.

Meanwhile, CBS News had begun hiring women as reporters in the Washington bureau. Marya McLaughlin, Lesley Stahl, Connie Chung and Diane Sawyer were all learning while working in support of Dan Rather, Roger Mudd, Daniel Shorr and the Kalb brothers. They held microphones and asked questions for the star reporters; if they were lucky the back of their head would appear on-air. Slowly and begrudgingly women began getting more airtime and recognition.

In the early 1980’s the network news organizations began feeling financial pressure. The owners were debating whether news should be a public service or a profit center. By 1984 CBS News had its first round of cuts, as did the other networks. 

Jim Brooks was very aware of these trends when he began doing his research for the movie. He dug deeply into the personalities, their eccentricities and the operations and its unique lingo. His script was brilliantly authentic, insightful, revealing and very funny.

The story revolves around three main characters. Jane Craig, a very talented and driven news producer, becomes attracted to reporter Tom Grunick, whose superficiality epitomizes everything she hates about the business. Meanwhile her best friend, Aaron Altman, a gifted reporter with limited on-camera skills, is bitter about her rejection of him. “Wouldn't this be a great world if insecurity and desperation made us more attractive?” Aaron observes in the movie. 

As casting began, CBS News allowed Susan to sign on as a technical adviser, and I played a smaller supporting role. Bill Hurt was selected for the role of Tom Grunick and Albert Brooks was picked to portray Aaron Altman. But Jane Craig would prove a challenge. At the eleventh hour Susan traveled up to New York to meet the woman finally selected to be Jane: Holly Hunter. She was a powerful and intense beauty whose strong spirit and passion earned her the role. Most people seeing Susan and Holly together noticed they were about the same size and similar in appearance.

Actors and producers began assembling in Washington and making regular research visits to the CBS News Washington bureau. They practiced their roles in a private production studio next door. And nothing was more anticipated than the day Jack Nicholson came in to film his cameo role as network anchorman Bill Rorich. “This is a brutal layoff,” Rorich quipped, “and all because they couldn’t program Wednesday nights.”

“Broadcast News” was released in mid December 1984 to critical praise as a satire on journalism’s egos and a real life tribute to the urgency, immediacy and complexity of television news. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards but took home none.

Twenty years ago Jim Brooks brilliantly and humorously threw a spotlight on important questions roiling network newsrooms. Today the real broadcast news plays an ever-diminishing roll in American lives. “Mass media” is massively eroding, audiences are being sliced into niches and profit margins continue to cut into important news coverage. Broadcast news executives are scrambling to hang on while diverting resources and attention to other platforms, like the Web or mobile devices.

These technology driven changes mean speedier access to content, information and production tools. Change is good as long as it is done responsibly. Quality journalism strengthens democracy and must trump egos, personalities and profit margins, no matter the medium, if the mass is to be well served.

A lot has changed in 20 years; or has it? In Aaron Altman’s words, “Let’s never forget, we’re the real story, not them.”

Tim Russert

I was CBS News Washington bureau chief in 1988 when Tim Russert was appointed to the same position at NBC News. Soon I was promoted by CBS News and assigned to New York. I actually met Tim at a Sally Quinn/Ben Bradlee party in their Georgetown mansion. She said she was celebrating my promotion to New York and Tim's move to Washington. I offered to help Tim out when appropriate, considering I was at another network. I remember that twinkle in his eyes; his passion and enthusiasm for Washington and politics. His whole being lit up. He was in heaven.

A year or so later, I remember hearing Tim would take over as anchor of Meet The Press. Some in the industry were critical of the appointment by then NBC News President Michael Gartner, after all Tim had never anchored before. But Gartner had experienced first hand Tim's passion and enthusiasm, and recognized his great intelligence and work ethic.

Tim willed Meet The Press to become the most prominent and important venue for serious national dialog. He out booked, out thought, out analyzed, out prepared, out promoted and out hustled the competition. And he had great fun doing it! In Virgil's words, "fortune rewards the bold."

Tim was a wonderful husband, father and friend to all. He was a man of great faith and integrity. Tim never forgot where he came from and he lived every second of his life with boundless passion and enthusiasm.

Edward R. Murrow was an historic and transcendent figure in broadcast journalism. Fifty years later, Tim Russert is also such an historic and transcendent figure for journalism. Murrow inspired me to enter my profession, Tim inspired me to excel each and every day.

Now he is in heaven, but I have no doubt that his legacy will have an enduring impact well into the 21st century.


PS: As a practicing Catholic, I lit a candle in Tim's memory at mass this past Sunday. But at some point I couldn't help but think about what impact Tim could have in heaven. I imagined he could fill in from time to time for St. Peter? Think about that!