Hey, here’s an idea for all our readers on the right, left, and middle: if your elderly father disagrees with you politically, then suggest he’s senile:
“Fox News Sunday” anchorman Chris Wallace says father Mike Wallace has “lost it” – after the legendary CBS newsman told the Boston Globe last week that the fact George Bush had been elected president shows America is “[expletive]-up.”
“He’s lost it. The man has lost it. What can I say,” the younger Wallace lamented to WRKO Boston radio host Howie Carr on Friday.
“He’s 87-years old and things have set in,” the Fox anchor continued. “I mean, we’re going to have a competence hearing pretty soon.”
Wallace Jr. quickly dispelled any notion that he was joking.
We don’t quote a lot from NewsMax, but this one was particularly interesting. Why? Because TMV has relatives who are huge Rush Limbaugh fans. TMV is not. And he has other relatives more to the left than TMV.
But yours truly doesn’t suggest that they’re senile, or brain-dead. Just that perhaps that they see things totally differently. And we either avoid politics or have arguments — but there is that basic underlying respect (even if it sounds like mutual rage) stemming from a mutual recognition that someone else may come up with different analyses which is their right.
But from this item it seems (unless NewsMax got it totally wrong) that because his Dad disagrees with him Chris Wallace felt compelled to roll out the Big Guns — and try to discredit (which is sometimes done with humor) an elderly person by suggesting (let’s be blunt) that they lost their marbles.
So anyone who doesn’t agree with Chris Wallace has lost their marbles. Right? Well…perhaps anyone who watches the younger Wallace expecting to see someone who can step back, look at a situation and coolly judge it impartially should go to WalMart and buy a new bag.
This statement won’t help the younger Wallace’s image. It suggests a Brian Williams/Peter Jennings, he ain’t. And if it was meant as humor, a Jon Stewart, he ain’t.