Silent of the Week Thread

[pbrower2a]

Somewhat off-topic because Donald Trump is not Silent: he has characteristics of immaturity and senility.

[sbarrera]

(03-06-2020, 01:08 PM)pbrower2a Wrote: Somewhat off-topic because Donald Trump is not Silent: he has characteristics of immaturity and senility.

 Well, they say immaturity is a trait of Boomers in general. 

[sbarrera]

The latest- http://stevebarrera.com/silent-of-the-we...ony-fauci/

Silent of the Week: Anthony Fauci
by Steve

My most recent Silent of the Week posts featured Democratic politicians, as the two stories that dominated the beginning of the year were impeachment and the Democratic primaries. That's all on the wayside now, with the COVID-19 pandemic taking over news feeds. The crisis has thrust numerous leaders into the limelight, with some reputations faring well, and others not so well.

Most of these leaders are Boomers or Gen-Xers, but there is one notable member of the Silent Generation who is in the limelight now. That would be Anthony Fauci (b. 1940), director of the NIAID and a member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force.



A highly credentialed physician and immunologist, Fauci has had a long career in the Federal government. He has been at the forefront of government policy and research involving epidemics, such as HIV/AIDS and Ebola, as well as bioterrorism. He has been in his current role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since the 1980s, serving under many Presidential administrations.

A long and distinguished career as a specialist mark him as a member of his generation, whose legacies include expertise and working within the system. Another legacy of his generation is acting as a tempering influence on the volatile personalities of the Boomers who came after them. And boy does he have that work cut out for him now, as evidenced by a recent meme of him face palming during a task force press conference. 



For giving us hope that there is at least someone intelligent with expertise working within the White House in this most desperate time, and for valiantly continuing his long service under this most feckless of administrations, I name Anthony Fauci my Silent of the Week.

[David Horn]

(03-26-2020, 08:12 PM)sbarrera Wrote: For giving us hope that there is at least someone intelligent with expertise working within the White House in this most desperate time, and for valiantly continuing his long service under this most feckless of administrations, I name Anthony Fauci my Silent of the Week.

It's impossible to disagree.  He's done yeoman's work in the worst possible environment to do it, and not backed down.

[sbarrera]

It's been a while, but here's another Silent of the Week post.

Silent of the Week: Lesley Stahl
by Steve

Last night we watched 60 Minutes, on regular broadcast television. Yes, I mean through an antenna. We don't have cable or satellite so it's either that or streaming (which is my preference). 

We've started making a habit of watching this show every Sunday evening, in part because we have a family member who likes doing things the old-fashioned way. It's like a throwback to another era - you actually have to watch the show at the scheduled time, instead of whenever you feel like it! I've been getting my news off the Internet for years, and it's refreshing to go back to this old format.

One of the segments was an interview with the Minneapolis Chief of Police, about the George Floyd killing, protests and police reform. The interviewer was Lesley Stahl (b. 1941), who has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 1991. You could say she is the last of the old guard, certainly one of the last of her generation still prominent in journalism.

Stahl's career took off when she covered the Watergate scandal as a young reporter. She's been at CBS most of her life, and for most of that time with 60 minutes - the sort of career longevity that characterizes the Silent Generation in contrast to younger ones. And she's certainly in her element, lending gravitas to a profession that in many ways has been hollowed out in an age of sensationalism and misinformation.

You can watch the interview here:

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/minneapoli...0-06-21/#x