August 18,2009/2

Just listened to an absolutely pointless colloquy between Kurt Andersen and Leonard Lopate on the latter's WNYC gabfest. Kurt has written what sounds like a straw man of a book called "Reset," but being as deft a media politician as there is, he's garnered a good deal of underserved ink and attention. The thesis of the book is - apparently - that the mess we're going through will make us stronger and braver. Amazingly, Kurt claimed authorship of the use of the modifier "casino" with respect to aspects of our culture, saying he happened upon it a couple of years ago, while I think in fact Felix Rohatyn popularized the term 'casino capitalism" some twenty-plus years ago. What bothers me is that at a time when, at least in my lifetime, there has never been a greater need for clear, insightful, original thinking and clear, insightful, original speaking, the gatekeepers of the media, like Leonard Lopate, reserve access to a practiced and thus dependable troupe of blahblahblahbarians.