Four Questions About Scott Pelley's Response to CBS Firing Him

As I am sure you are fully aware, CBS fired Scott Pelley after 37 years with the network on Tuesday evening after he blasted the credentials of newly appointed 60 Minutes executive producer Nick Bilton while accusing the network's editor-in-chief Bari Weiss of "murdering" 60 Minutes. 

For me, to this point, the most interesting aspect of this story is Pelley's response to being fired. Pelley sent a statement to the Washington Post. I am particularly struck by this passage.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. 

Given the specificity of Pelley's assertions, I believe these warrant some follow up questions. Four to be exact. 

1. On which politically sensitive story did CBS management ask Pelley to inject falsehoods and bias?

2. What were the falsehoods and bias that Pelley was asked to inject?

3. On what other stories was Pelley asked to include unverified assertions?

4. Which politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews?

Questions 1 & 2 go hand in hand. Pelley has cited a specific story in which accuses network management of asking him to inject falsehoods and bias. We just don't know which story. 

Question 3 is worth if for no other reason to see what distinguishes between unverified assertions and falsehoods and bias. It also appears that Pelley work around such inquiries however potentially improper they may have been. However, he might not have been so lucky with the mysterious "politically sensitive story" in Questions 1 & 2.

As to Question 4, it is a matter of public record that Weiss gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the choice between being interviewed by Lesley Stahl and Major Garrett which Bibi choosing the latter. However, Pelley uses the term "politicians" which would suggest that Weiss have offered this option to other elected officials. In which case, it is well worth knowing who they might be. Were these American politicians or are there others from abroad? If it is American politicians, then was this reserved exclusively for Republicans or for members of the Trump Administration?

Getting back to Bibi, I do remember when Stahl interviewed him on 60 Minutes back in December 2016 and being rather perturbed by it. In her report, Stahl claimed, "Netanyahu took the provocative step of lobbying against the Iran nuclear deal and by extension President Obama in a speech before Congress." Provocative step? Netanyahu was invited by Congress to speak before them. It's not as if he just showed up on Capitol Hill and demanded to speak.

And let us consider this exchange:

Lesley Stahl: You have a friendship with Mr. Putin, and a friendship with China. You seem to be inching toward an anti-American bloc.

Benjamin Netanyahu: God, no.  Let me tell you something—

Lesley Stahl: Well, talk about that ‘cause I think there’s an impression of that.

Benjamin Netanyahu: That’s a false impression.  First of all, there is, there is an irreplaceable ally.  It’s called the United States of America.

Lesley Stahl: Yeah, but here you are making friends with our adversaries—

Benjamin Netanyahu: So no. You have relations with Russia and you have relations with China. We can have relations, economic relations, trade relations with other countries as you do.  Why not?

Now I think Netanyahu handled this line of questioning more than adequately. Nevertheless, Stahl's assertion that Bibi's cordial relationship with Russia and China constituted "an anti-American bloc" and that "there's an impression" of a such a thing isn't a statement of bias, then I don't know what is. In which case, I can understand why Bibi would prefer to talk to Garrett rather than Stahl.

But if permitting an elected or public official to choose who interviews him represents is not within the practices or protocols of American journalism and Weiss breached this practice and protocol, then I share Pelley's objections even if I think if Stahl's previous interview of Bibi was dubious.

I also don't think CBS or any other TV network should become an apparatus for state propaganda. Indeed, I vividly remember when Weiss killed the CECOT story last December because her decision came only hours after I watched All the President's Men during the Robert Redford tribute at the Brattle Theatre. 

Nevertheless, Pelley has made some specific allegations but has not provided the details. And the devil is very much in the details.

Students for Justice in Palestine Chapter Praises Boulder Terrorist on Anniversary of Attack

On the anniversary of the attack on Jews in Boulder, Colorado marching for the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas which later claimed the life of a Holocaust survivor, the local chapter for Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) praised the man who carried out the attack:

One year ago today, Mohamed Sabry Soliman took direct action against the Zionist death cult festering in our city. He struck against the colonist procession that gathers weekly to celebrate the pretext for ongoing genocide.

The state would have us believe that Mohamed took the action he did because he is insane – a fanatic, a terrorist, guilty of a hate crime – but we know the truth, and we reject the state’s inversion of it.

Mohamed chose the only sane response available to a rational human being confronted with the normalization of genocide. He refused the comfortable position of the grateful immigrant and the role of obedient subject, choosing confrontation with a violent system over passive proximity to the comfort of empire.

We reject the distinction between speech and material force. The Run for Their Lives procession functions as a mechanism for normalizing the celebration of mass killers, rendering ordinary the sight of war criminals treated as heroes on streets that sit upon stolen land.

Mohamed refused their normalization with direct action. He chose to treat the manifestation of Zionist violence as the lethal threat it actually constitutes.

These words are sickening. It would probably be even more so had these words been uttered in German.

If this is sanity, then there is no such thing as reason.

But these words are also illuminating because SJP and organizations like it are telling us who they are.

When these people tell you an elderly Holocaust survivor murdered in cold blood with a Molotov cocktail was part of a "Zionist death cult festering in our city" you should take them at their word.

Why?

Because they are not only telling you that killing Jews is a good thing but that they would like to see more of it in Boulder and beyond.

In the wake of these evil words, most elected officials in Colorado have chosen to remain silent. Sadly, this should not come as a surprise as the people of Boulder turned their back on the Run for Their Lives marchers and Boulder's Jewish community.

It is attitudes such as these which allow voices like SJP and their praise of terrorists to flourish.

The $1.776 Billion "Anti-Weaponization" Fund is Gone But Trump's Protection From The IRS Remains

Amid a deep backlash from Republican Senators, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the $1.776 "anti-weaponization" fund which would have been used to compensate J6ers and those who broke the law the behest of President Trump will not proceed after all.

But one aspect from President Trump's settlement with the IRS and the Treasury Department will remain. Trump, his family and his businesses will also remain exempt from all future IRS audits in perpetuity.

This is every bit as egregious as the slush fund for J6ers. Trump, his family and his businesses are beyond the reach of the IRS. Indeed, when it came right down to it, Trump (through Blanche) sacrificed his supporters for his own interests. Not that the J6ers deserved a penny of it. But this is the best-case outcome for Trump. He will take that deal any day of the week.

The idea of people storming the U.S. Capitol receiving taxpayer money as compensation for their actions is offensive to most people. One would also think that being above the law when it comes to paying one's taxes would also be offensive to most people. But not being subject to an IRS audit doesn't quite paint the vivid image of people assaulting police officers and getting paid for it.

While crime does not pay for most people, it does for President Trump. Not only is he immune from prosecution for unlawful presidential acts, but he is also immune from prosecution for cheating on his taxes. 

Of course, it doesn't hurt when your Acting Attorney General is also your personal attorney.

The Burdens of Claude Lemieux

A couple of days ago, in the wake of NHL legend Claude Lemieux's suicide, I asked what drove him to take his own life scarcely 48 hours after receiving cheers from Montreal Canadiens fans prior to Game 3 of the NHL Eastern Conference Final between the Habs and Carolina Hurricanes:

When I look at the scene in which Lemieux is greeted by thunderous applause, it is only natural to wonder what happened in the final hours of his life. 

Lemieux was found by one of his sons in the warehouse of their family business. Were there financial problems? Had he been recently diagnosed with an incurable illness? Or has Lemieux been battling depression his whole life despite being a four-time Stanley Cup champion and just decided he couldn't take it anymore? If this was the case, was going from thunderous applause to isolation his breaking point? Did he talk to anyone or did he feel too ashamed to do so?

Well, it would appear that Lemieux had been suffering from long-term depression. According to an article from the New York Post, Lemieux had been estranged from his children and was distressed that he had never been selected for the Hockey Hall of Fame. Longtime Montreal hockey columnist Réjean Tremblay also suggested, after speaking with Lemieux's close friends, that the applause he received on Monday night at the Bell Centre might have been too much to bear. "It’s possible that surge of love, that wave of love on Monday evening, triggered an emotion that was too intense,” Tremblay said, “It might have reawakened old pains, old suffering.”

For their part, Lemieux's family has announced that the hockey legend's brain will be donated to Boston University's CTE Center and has given the institution permission to release their findings. If it can be determined that Lemieux had CTE, it could shed some light on his decision to take his own life. 

Whatever their findings, it is clear that Claude Lemieux had burdens with which he could not cope. 

Things That Go Boom in The Middle of the Afternoon

On most Saturday afternoons, I like to be out of the house.

Today, however, was quite windy, rainy and unseasonably cold. So, I stayed indoors.

Then came a boom which shook the windows of my room. 

I must admit I thought the wind had knocked something to the ground somewhere in my general vicinity. 

As it turns out, I was among possibly millions of people who heard the same sound which could be heard as far north as Montreal and as far south as Delaware. 

According to the American Meteor Society, a three-foot-long meteor entered the Earth's atmosphere somewhere along the Massachusetts-New Hampshire border and most likely landed in the Atlantic. There have been no reports of any damage caused. In my neck of the woods, there were branches strewn on the ground, but this was most likely due to the aforementioned heavy winds.

I'm sure someone somewhere will try to make something more out of this than it is.

As Sigmund Freud said, "Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar."

Canada's Stanley Cup Drought Continues as Hurricanes Eliminate Habs

Bad news for Canadian hockey fans. 

The Stanley Cup drought continues. It has now been 33 years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup when the Montreal Canadiens bested the Los Angeles Kings in 1993.

This evening, it was the Canadiens who were decisively eliminated by the Carolina Hurricanes in Game 5 of the NHL Eastern Conference final by a score of 6-1.

For their part, the Hurricanes will try to win their first Stanley Cup in 20 years as they face the Vegas Golden Knights who won the Cup in 2023.

Perhaps it was a lot to ask of the Habs. Aside from Montreal's Game 1 win, the Hurricanes have been unbeaten in the post-season having swept both the Ottawa Senators and the Philadelphia Flyers. 

I suspect the sudden death of one-time Canadiens legend Claude Lemieux took some of the wind out of their sails.

Still, it was a valiant effort on the part of the Canadiens who battled to seven game triumphs over the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Buffalo Sabres. 

Nevertheless, Canadian hockey fans will have to once again wait until next year. 

On Being Back in Boston for 5 Years

 

Today is a special day for me.

It was 5 years ago today that I returned to Boston. 

It was 5 years ago today that I returned home.

A home I never wanted to leave.

I wasn't born or raised here but make no mistake, this is home.

OK, I live across the river in Cambridge and am a stone's throw from Somerville.

But both cities are connected with Boston. In the case of Cambridge, it is separated from Boston by the Charles River as you can see above.

I can tell without equivocation or hesitation that I have had the happiest 5 years of my life. 

First and foremost, life at work is above and beyond my wildest expectations. When I returned to start yet another job as a law firm records clerk, I had no illusions of being promoted much less getting to go on business trips to New York or a conference in West Virginia. Yet these things happened.

Above all else, I am in a job where my word and deeds are respected and valued. I do face stressful situations from time to time, but do not feel overwhelmed when they arise. I feel confident that I can address whatever comes at me and am not afraid to seek advice when necessary. Seldom in life are one's expectations exceeded. With that having happened, I am savoring this satisfaction for as long as I can.

As for my personal life, I am content with it. While it has not exceeded my expectations, I do not feel any despair. My life away from work is more or less my own. I walk, swim, go candlepin bowling, visit Walden Pond, search for an orange cat at Harvard, take in the occasional concert and attend as many old movies at the Brattle & elsewhere as I can.

Most of these activities are done by myself which is fine with me. I enjoy my own company. But it is nice to get together with people from time to time. Typically, I meet people for lunch once a year during the spring and summer months. Tonight, I went to my old stomping grounds in JP to have dinner with my old neighbors Monica and Stef at the Noodle Barn. They were kind enough to put me up for several nights when I returned on this day 5 years ago. Given the occasion, a reunion was in order. 

Meeting new people is a difficult proposition especially as one gets older. The only person I've truly met over the past five years was a fellow named Bill whom I first encountered at a showing of Fanny: The Right to Rock. He was a Fanny fanatic when they were making records. We've had brunch a couple of times and last summer he did persuade me to attend my first Red Sox game at Fenway Park since 2018. 

While it would be nice to meet other people, I must admit I am not always in the mood to talk. This was the case when I went to the Kendall Square Cinema to see the Paul McCartney documentary Man on the Run back in February. Some fellow sat next to me and asked if I bought my ticket at the last minute. The manner in which he posed the question rubbed me the wrong way and I politely indicated I had no desire to engage in conversation as the movie was to begin. My loss? Perhaps. But there are times I do prefer my own company even in a crowd of people.

Naturally, I have had more than my share of annoyances and inconveniences. Most of these are short term and resolvable. Although I did not get to see Emmylou Harris in concert, I did get my money back when I enlisted the help of the Massachusetts Attorney General. I would also get my $100 in lottery winnings after the store from which I bought the ticket wouldn't give me the money.

Alas some annoyances and inconveniences are more serious than others and not to easily resolved. There was my kidney stone ordeal and federal jury snafu. I got through them but not without considerable pain and stress. The memory of these episodes lingers.

Another source of ongoing stress is the authoritarian behavior of the Trump Administration and the increasing public acceptance of anti-Semitism. Both things especially the latter sometimes makes my chest feel heavy and I need to make a point to slow down and regroup. 

What enables me to cope with these things is the fact that I am in and around Boston. The reality is that I would be dealing with these serious problems no matter where I called home. I am simply better able to make the best of the situation within the range of the 617-area code. 

With that, I look forward to what Boston, Cambridge & Somerville and the surrounding area have in store for me in the next 5 years.