Campaigning for Bill Moyers
No, I'm not campaigning for Bill Moyers but I do admire him and half wish he would get into the presidential race. Molly Ivins may have hit on something as John Nichols of The Nation suggests (via Truthout):
If nothing else, Bill Moyers would be a vast improvement over the current president. For one thing, he would act on his values instead of just talking about them for public consumption and then doing the opposite. As just one example, it would be great to have president who actually believes in democracy.
With all due regard to one of the finest journalists and finest Americans I know, I respectfully disagree with Molly Ivins - not on the merits of a Moyers candidacy, but on the potential.
I'm not suggesting that Bill Moyers - with whom I've had the pleasure of working in recent years on media reform issues - is a sure bet to win the Democratic nomination or the presidency in 2008. I'm not even suggesting that he would be a good bet. But the politics of 2008 are already so muddled, so quirky and so potentially volatile that I believe - as someone who has covered my share of presidential campaigns - that Moyers could be a contender.
Moyers would enter the 2008 race with far more practical political experience than Dwight Eisenhower had in 1952, far more national name recognition than Jimmy Carter had in 1976 and far more to offer the country than most of our recent chief executives.
(snip)
Consider the fact that a professional body builder is the governor of the largest state in the union, and that the list of serious contenders for seats in Congress and for governorships this year is packed with retired athletes, former television anchorpersons and bored millionaires, and it simply is not that big a stretch to suggest that someone with the government and private-sector experience, the national recognition and the broad respect that Bill Moyers has attained across five decades of public life could not make a serious run for the presidency.
So, Molly, I'll see your suggestion of Bill Moyers, and up the ante to suggest that Moyers really could be a contender.
If nothing else, Bill Moyers would be a vast improvement over the current president. For one thing, he would act on his values instead of just talking about them for public consumption and then doing the opposite. As just one example, it would be great to have president who actually believes in democracy.
posted by Poechewe at 7:50 PM
2 Comments:
I'm with you on Moyers in general, Poechewe, but "he would act on his values instead of just talking about them for public consumption"???
Isn't Moyers famous for doing just that: talking about things on TV for decades in various capacities?
Jim, thanks for your comment. On one level, your point is well taken. What journalists do is talk. But look at the stories Moyers has pursued, stories that many journalists would not know how to handle. You can't just superficially learn what Moyers has done and do stories. His story on Amazing Grace is now a classic of the depth achieved by taking the trouble to understand and explore a subject.
Bush reads his speeches but either doesn't understand what he's talking about or is extremely cynical and dishonest about the whole thing. At times, I think Bush is guilty of both. When the history books start having a chapter on Bush, they're going to change the usual format: they'll show what he said and then spend paragraphs on what the facts were or on what he did instead.
Still, you're right: with Moyers, I can only push the argument so far.
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