Mark Shields … in person and DELIGHTFUL !
I
was privileged recently to attend a free lecture at our local
Community College where the famed PBS political analyst, Mark
Shields, was the speaker. As many of you know he is often paired
with David Brooks on the PBS news. He speaks for the left and David
the right and that gives us a broad view of the subject discussed.
The
title of the Lecture was “The Challenge of Governing in a Polarized
World”. Mr. Shields (who started his political career in 1968
working on the Robert F. Kennedy Presidential campaign) has
covered the last 10 Presidents and it was fascinating getting his
take on some of them.
He
is known for his wit and I think the funniest recollection that he
shared
with us was
when President Reagan made his remark in 1981 “Trees cause more
pollution than automobiles”, which of course was proved incorrect.
Mr. Shields said shortly
after his remark Reagan
arrived at one of the California colleges to give a speech and
was greeted by a large sign hanging off a tree that read “Cut me
down now before I kill someone.”
Although
his talk was sprinkled with witticisms it was basically a serious
look at the world as it evolves and our part in it. I found it to be
one of those talks that I wished would not come to an end. A quote
from The Wall Street Journal expresses it best for me. They called
him “the wittiest political analyst around and frequently the most
trenchant, fair-minded and thoughtful”.
You can't ask for much
more than that !
posted by Ginnie at 5:00 PM
7 Comments:
It sounds like a wonderful lecture by someone worth listening to.
Wow... good for you! Wish I had been there, too!
Not familiar with him but he sounds like someone I would like to hear. Loved the tree sign.
Seems like a great guy. I am familiar with the face but have never really watched PBS news.
I hope his prepared talk was better than his extempoaneous comments on Friday nights. He and David Brooks are past their prime, I do believe.
I do love the commentary between Shields and Brooks. I have actually stopped watching Newshour except on Fridays to listen to them. Or to hear Marcia Coyle's take on the Supreme Court.
I've become quite disappointed in Judy Woodruff and Gwen Ifil and their softball interviews. And I'm especially turned off by Lisa Desjardins who spouts unproven claims as if they were truths. She even quotes the Trump blog on occasion as "proof" that there are questions about something Hillary has done despite the fact that there is nothing there. So sad to see a previously objective show turn like the rest of the media. But I can always count on Mark Shields.
I appreciate the News Hour comments of Shields and Brooks. They haven't hesitated to report being as fluxomed as all the other news people and the rest of us with the unpredictability of this election campaign. Don't know of any of those newscasters, commentators who were able to make much sense of it for most of this election season. Glad you could enjoy Shields appearance.
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