Walter Cronkite, 1916-2009

RIP, Walter.

Good night, and good news.

My mother told me the best stories about working abroad with Walter Cronkite; she was a specials producer and was with his crew in Japan, I believe. When I called to tell her he had died, she said, “Oh, he was the nicest man you could ever hope to work with.”

If Walter Cronkite gets any less than double the lavish necrophilia fest given to Tim Russert (undeservedly, in his case), then that will be the final bit of proof that there is no justice in this world.

Everyone’s running footage of Walter doing the Moon Walk. But strangely, nobody can find the clip of him dangling Rather out the window during the ’68 convention.

Someone bring me Glenn Beck and a bat, lest I cry…

(Via CB at Sox game)

Oh, no. I knew this was coming, but still: OH, NO.

@nojo: Fitting that he died on the 40th anniversary of the launch of Apollo 11.

Has anyone from the psychoconservative camp used the guy’s death as an opportunity to condemn him as a sellout to the commies for editorializing against the war?

@FlyingChainSaw: Since Talibunny tweeted the Playboy “liberal” remark a week or so back, I’m sure we’ll be seeing some of that. For the moment, the five seconds I could bear to look at Fox showed them running the same memorial coverage as MSNBC and CNN.

@FlyingChainSaw: The Freepers never fail.

@rptrcub: A smattering from the comments:

Where do traitors go when they die?

Great, this gives the Communist News Network(s) an excuse to not cover what is most important to the american people, the economy and the Kenyan in the WH. Say hello to Pol Pot Howard and all the communist leaders of Vietnam you gave aid and comfort to.

@blogenfreude: I saw the first few, copied the link and promptly closed the tab.

@rptrcub: I go where most liberals fear to tread. Like Clownhall.

The Eugene of my youth was a two-network town in a three-network world, so except for “You Are There” school films, I didn’t watch Walter growing up — it’s all Huntley-Brinkley and John Chancellor.

So my memory of the moon shots doesn’t include Cronkite. Instead, it features a centrally displayed Gulf logo.

I grew up with Walter. I couldn’t handle “Good night, Chet; Good night, David.” Reminded me of “Say goodnight, Gracie.”

Interestingly, the JFK clip looks a lot more “fresh” than other B-roll footage they’re rolling. That ain’t no kinescope, but videotape wouldn’t be used to report news for years.

@nojo: Our house was also strictly Chet and David every night. On the other hand for all of the space missions we always watched Walter. I think his passion for the space program made him the guy to watch because I felt the same way.

Seeing the clip from Cronkite’s appearance on the Mary Tyler Moore Show made me think of something. Who knew back then that we’d see a day when Ted Baxter could be considered an above average newsman?

@Dave H: I used to watch his show The Year 2000 during the 1960s and I could not wait until we had the skyborne trolleys and stuff he talked about that we’d enjoy then. In 2000, I remembered wanting to call him up and give him a rash of shit for lying to me, as the trolleys still used tracks and the US had elected its first medievalist as president.

@blogenfreude: From Reuters:

Cronkite flew on the first bombing raids over Germany, parachuting into the Netherlands with the 101st Airborne Division and landing with Allied troops at Normandy…

I peeked at those Freeper comments too. Like Mitt’s kids, they do their part for the war by staying at home.

I did a search for the show FCS mentioned above which I don’t remember. The first hit on Google was on the Free Republic and was a story from The American Spectator headlined “Walter Cronkite created Fox News”. The comments compared him to Stalin and Pol Pot with the calm detachment and understatement that are so much in favor on conservative web sites.

I do remember Walter Cronkite hosting “You Are There”. I’ll have to see if those are available on DVD.

@blogenfreude: you sacrifice so we do not have to. God, those comments make me physically ill.

@nojo: Geek-tech update: Footage from JFK outdoor interview includes color 16mm for setup, that fresh-looking video for the actual questioning. Tape must have been a foot wide those days.

@Dave H: A dozen You Are There DVDs show up on Netflix. No sign of Year 2000, which I don’t remember either.

@Signal to Noise: The heart and soul of America – likely representing the opinions of everyone who voted Republican in the last 3 presidential elections.

@nojo: Actually, can you call her up and ask her if it made her feel good to smear the guy a few days before he died and ask her if she is certain he is burning in hell for not belonging to her church? Then we can have a new poll to see if her responses change the proportion of people who want to take a shit on her face.

@FlyingChainSaw: This is the problem, FCS, the sheer number of people in this country who desperately deserve a fresh steaming load dropped onto their face, the amazing percentage of people who need to be stuffed face-first into the porta-potties used for a chili festival. The sane and decent people of this country would all wind up with damaged livers if asked to eat sufficient cheese and bad mexican food to provide the required amount of reeking feces of the quality that would be required to do justice.

Could we just tie them face down to those huge rotating stirrers they have in those settling tanks in all the municipal sewage treatment plants, would that suffice?

While the automation would enhance face-plotching efficiencies it would depersonalize it to a point that would remove the aspect of human revulsion and contempt directly applied and personally experienced by the villain as well as the cathartic experience of the plotcher, enjoying a chance to humiliate righteously a heinous criminal with the most sincere expression of contempt.

@Promnight: Could we just tie them face down to those huge rotating stirrers they have in those settling tanks in all the municipal sewage treatment plants, would that suffice?

@nojo: Inch and 3/4, I think. My Dad worked in TV then and I used to hang around the set sometimes.

@nojo: Rather mentioned on not-Keith last night that Cronkite accompanied those suicidal glider missions over Europe.

Ours was a Cronkite news house. Huntley/Brinkley I only knew for the “Good night Chet” meme that spilled over into Rowen and Martin’s Laugh In.

To me, Walter was the old guy who was on the news till 1981. I only read about what he did later. Yankee sensibility and all that, not one of the glory seeking suckups who wanted to be THE STORY (I see you, ghost of Timmeh.)

My cranky dad loved Walter when we finally got cable in 1978 and could get US America stations.

@FlyingChainSaw: “The Year 2000” – two questions for you: (1) is this the show where he was wearing the crazy top hat and bionic cane that was like a weird acid trip?; and (2) is this song the inspiration for Flight of the Conchords’ fabulous song “In the Future, The Year 2000”?

So fucking late to this thread but in my defense I’ve just spent 96 hours with out Tubez or cell phone access and got home from the woods in time to sob in front of 60 Minutes…will post mountain photoz soon on FB – FCS, if you want to see them send me a gmail.