Tom Browkaw in his cups on Countdown?

[DemoTex]

He was struggling. He kept refering to next years elections as the Elections of 1968.

[Hekate]

1. I caught that too. Other than that, I thought his voice sounded as always.

Who knows...

Hekate

[TomInTib]

6. See my reply (#5) downthread. nt

[stevedeshazer]

2. Didn't see it. Is he losing it? n/t

[AlCzervik]

3. he's starting to sound like Jim Ward's impression of him.

[Lex]

4. I thought his observation that the "battles of the 60's" that Obama decries

are some of the ones that laid the foundation for him to be able to run for President in this country was pretty sharp.

[flordehinojos]

13. and wasn't the sixties also what laid the foundation for Betty Friedan and all of the feminists etc.

which are also allowing Hillary to run as well?

[TomInTib]

5. My Late, Great Friend...

Tom Snyder told me that he always thought that Brokaw has some organic cerebral deterioration.

Did you know that they re-named (nicknamed) the L-1011 because Brokaw either could not or would not pronounce "L-1011" on-air? I cannot recall what name that Lockheed went with.

Tom also maintained that Brokaw's book (The Greatest Generation?) was ghosted by writers at NBC to smooth (and expedite) Brokaw's exit from NBC.

[Lucinda]

9. This is OT

but I loved Synder. Thanks for reminding me of him. :)

[TomInTib]

11. Well, I'll tell ya what....

Go to Nance Gregg's journal

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/NanceGreggs/252

And read what she wrote about Tom. And read the replies.

I read it at his Memorial service (and some selected replies).

And I miss him every day.

I still cannot believe that he is gone.

[Lucinda]

16. Thanks for linking to Nance's piece, I hadn't seen it before...

I'm sorry for the loss of such a good friend.

The whole thread was great reading. I especially liked Wetzelbill's comment about finally "getting" Synder. I really loved his show. I spent big chunks of time not watching TV over the years (for a variety of reasons) and it was always great to re-discover him once I plugged back in. He was "cool" and smart and always clear in expressing his POV. I'm glad to hear that some of his stuff is up on utube. I guess he lives forever that way, eh?

Lucinda

[DemoTex]

10. Very, very interesting.

BTW: The Lockheed L-1011 was the Tri-Star. I'm an old Lockheed fan (I flew the P-2V Neptune and the 4-motored corporate jet, the JetStar), and I always wanted to fly the L-1011. Almost got my chance. I was hired at Eastern Air Lines in the Frank Lorenzo days. I almost showed for my class date. But then Piedmont and Fedex called. I opted for Piedmont (now US Scareways).

[TomInTib]

12. Man, that is one wierd-looking aircraft.

"Tri-Star"

That's it!

The head of NBC News came up with that moniker.

Funny how things work, ain't it Mac?

What was the purpose of the P2V?

[DemoTex]

14. The P2V was, originally, a Navy ASW (anti-sub warfare) aircraft.

It went into service in about 1946. It was phased out in the 1960s as the Lockheed P-3 Orion (Electra) came on line. The USAF picked up a few and literally painted them black for low-level ops on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The US Army acquired seven Lockheed SP-2Es (-5 P2Vs) for the ASA in Viet Nam. It had a long loiter time and good dash speeds (with the jets burning). We typically departed Cam Ranh Bay at noon, flew up the coast "feet wet" to Quang Tri, and then turned west into the target areas on the Trail in Laos two hours later.

We normally spent 12 hours on target between the Ban Kari Pass and Tchepone in Laos (but I once went up to Dien Bien Phu, and then to the China border. That was some shit, my friend.). At about 2AM we would land at Danang to refuel and turn over the mission product. Then it was a balls-to-the-wall dash back down the coast to Cam Ranh, with two turnin' and two burnin'. We would normally arrive back at base at 0600. That's an 18-hour mission, Tom.

Breakfast was usually at the Sandman Club at 0630, and it was liquid.


Two turnin', two burnin'!

[DemoTex]

15. FWIW, here is a pic of an old JetStar (a dash 8)

I flew the updated JetStar-II for Ken Lay, pre-Enron.

[tularetom]

7. I felt sorry for the poor ol bastard

He ain't evil as much as he is clueless. He's been propped up by the librul media to make Rather seem like a nut.

But I think he suffers from far more than a speech impediment. I wonder if he's had a stroke.

[Gold Metal Flake]

8. He was pronouncing his Ls better than in a long time tonight.

I was surprised.

[UTUSN]

17. He was out of it in the 2000 election night coverage.

While Dan RATHER was bouncing off the walls, and G.E. Russert thought he was making his mark with his erasable board, BROKAW was totally bored.

He didn't realize he was sitting on the biggest story of the generation. He was blase, self-satisfied, blase, and generally out of touch.

How did somebody not that old get so passe so fast?!1

[NoodleyAppendage]

18. I want to know what the hell he was wearing. It looked like a red ascot. n/t

[0007]

19. Browkaw has the twitchiest shoulders I've ever seen for a guy.

He did not look comfortable to me.