Up and Down

It finally happened. Charles Timothy Hagel was finally confirmed by the Senate as Secretary of Defense yesterday, and he was quickly sworn in, allowing outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to return to his California walnut farm after one last fling in Europe for a NATO summit of civilian defense chiefs regarding Afghanistan. Republicans bloodied Hagel so much in the confirmation process, though, that they diminished his effectiveness before he's even had the chance to get started. Fortunately, Hagel, a former enlisted man who served in Vietnam, has a lot of support from the enlisted personnel (Note: most Vietnam servicemen without a commissioned rank didn't "enlist," they were drafted) and the lower-ranking officers who comprise the majority of our military. They see Hagel as one of them. And he might as well be, because he's likely now less than well-respected by top brass thanks to the Grand Obstructionist Party and their unfairness against their nominal Republican colleague. Hagel has plenty of time to earn more people's trust, though he just missed a golden opportunity to meet the defense ministers of other NATO countries - countries whose people, having witnessed American government in action, have one more reason to laugh at this country. Except the Italians, who have their own problems in running a government . . . or forming one, for that matter.

Meanwhile, I, having witnessed American journalism in action, have one more reason to laugh at this country. CNN is reducing Soledad O'Brien's role at their network to that of an "independent" contributor (i.e., they're firing her), and she may be doing some documentaries (which likely will never air), largely after she made one politician, Christian conservative, and businessman too many - probably the same man - squirm in his seat with her tough probing questions. She took her job as a CNN morning anchor too seriously. She was actually trying to speak truth to power and get answers. But sadly, American broadcast media - even PBS, whose NewsHour program is "funded" in part by a freight railroad - is so tightly controlled by large corporations that being a real newsperson can get you in trouble with bosses who are easily offended. As for Soledad O'Brien, she'll be replaced in the morning with a new talk show hosted by Erin Burnett. In addition to being younger and whiter than the woman she replaces (O'Brien is of Irish and Afro-Cuban descent), Erin Burnett is also a business reporter. Nothing wrong with that, except that as a business journalist, Erin Burnett is savvy enough not to ask anyone questions that offend big business.

With MSNBC pretty much settled on a permanent on-air lineup (finally), and with no obvious prospects for her at Fox, the best Soledad O'Brien can do is hope there's an opening at Al Gore's Current TV. Oh, wait, that's right - Gore sold his network to al-Jazeera. Well, then, she can join al-Jazeera America. She'll be able to to plenty of hard-hitting journalism there. I know many folks in These States consider al-Jazeera un-American, but a lot people probably consider Soledad O'Brien to be un-American already anyway. Why? Perhaps you weren't paying attention, in which case, please read the previous paragraph of this post again.