Brokaw on Bias; Petraeus on Victory

07 December 2010 |permalink | email article

Tom Brokaw long ago left the anchor desk at NBC but he remains a respected and iconic figure in TV journalism. He hopes his new documentary on discrimination will help calm some of the nation’s political discord but concedes the special may become entangled in it.

Roughly timed to the half-century anniversary of the beginning of the U.S. civil rights movement, the special tells stories of people actively fighting bias they have encountered in their own lives. “Most of the political dialogue these days, and too much of the media dialogue, is ‘in your face,’” Brokaw said. 

“There has always been a rich American tradition of robust debate and taking strong positions. Now it just seems to me that the trend is steadily in the direction of being as divisive as possible. To belittle your opponents and this is across the political spectrum. That kind of thing we need to get beyond.”

“Tom Brokaw Presents Bridging the Divide” premieres on the USA Network on Dec. 10.

Petraeus has doubts

On Sunday the Afghanistan commander told ABC News he wasn’t sure whether the U.S. would succeed there by 2014. ”Candidness is admirable in a political figure, right? “I think no commander ever is going to say, I’m confident we can do this.” Petraeus is refreshing and right to be skeptical.

A USA Today/ Gallup Poll (Nov. 19-21) indicated that Americans view Afghanistan with skepticism and anxiety: Only 3% thought the war was going very well; 42% said moderately well; 38% moderately badly, and 17% very badly. Petraeus knows this is a very bad omen.

Question of the Day

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, toying with a potential 2012 presidential run, is trying to reach out to conservative Hispanics with a gimmicky news and opinion website, The Americano. He’s never before called for immigration reform, something Democrats have been attempting for some time. How does Newt think he can reach out to Hispanics when 67% of them voted for Barack Obama in 2008?

 

170