When America was great, it valued experience, wisdom and the counsel
of elders. I'm not sure there was a cause-and-effect relationship
between the decline of our culture and the diminished value we place on
sages, but it's worth pointing out. Today, the American popular culture
simply doesn't honor those who came before.
A perfect example of this disrespect is the decision by the New York
Times to unceremoniously dump A.M. Rosenthal as a columnist.
Abe Rosenthal had been with the Times for 56 years. He wrote an
insightful column that seldom got tired. He served the paper as editor
through some of its glory days. Rosenthal began as a $12-a-week City
College stringer while a student in 1943 and went on to become a foreign
correspondent in India, Poland and Japan.
After all that, he was fired because he was, at 77, too old,
according to what passes as "conventional wisdom" at the New York Times.
Fired!
"Sweetheart, you can use any word you want," Rosenthal said in an
interview with the Washington Post while cleaning out his office and
filing his final column.
He said Publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr., in giving him the news, told
him only that "it was time. What that means, I don't know. ... I didn't
expect it at all."
Rosenthal said he hoped to continue his column for another
publication and do other kinds of writing.
Well, Abe, this is an unconventional way to make a job offer, but if
you want a home in cyberspace -- one that is reaching a vast and growing
international audience -- consider WorldNetDaily.com. I mean it. You
have a home here if you want it. I'm sure we can work out the fine
points if the offer interests you. We would be honored to have you hang
your hat here as long as you are able to write -- and I trust that will
be a very long time.
"Did I expect to write forever?" Rosenthal asked rhetorically after
the surprise firing. "Why not? ... Hardly a day goes by in New York
without somebody coming up and kissing me" in thanks for his column.
And here's a cyber-buss for you from all of us at WorldNetDaily.com.
Get with it, Abe. This is where the action is now. You don't need the
New York Times. Nobody does. Not anymore. Getting fired from that
stodgy, old relic is the best thing that ever happened to you. There's
an exciting new career beckoning. Who was it that said: "Life begins at
80"?
"I've always detested people who work for an institution a long
time and when they leave, throw up all over it," Rosenthal said.
Don't worry about it, Abe. Kvetch. Wretch. Purge. It's time. What you
now see about the institution you loved so dearly, many of us have seen
for a long time. Put it behind you. And don't be self-conscious about
calling bad manners, disrespect, betrayal of trust and shortsightedness
just what they are -- the vices of the New York Times and the
establishment media over which it presides.
Abe Rosenthal is a hero and role model in an industry where few
heroes and role models exist. He won the Pulitzer Prize when it still
meant something. He is credited by many with saving the Times during the
1970s when it was in deep trouble. But he was never politically correct.
Unlike the vast majority of editors throughout the newspaper
industry, Rosenthal refused to allow the word "gay" in the newspaper as
a substitute for homosexual. Rosenthal rightly pointed out that the term
was an invention of homosexual activists specifically designed to
promote a lifestyle and a political agenda by offsetting negative
connotations.
One of Boy Sulzberger's priorities after succeeding papa as publisher
was to create a warmer climate toward homosexual staffers. Looks like
they got their wish with the axing of Rosenthal. But this will hardly be
the last laugh. That is reserved for Rosenthal, who, when asked what was
his legacy at the Times, replied: "He kept the paper straight."
Remember, this is a guy who was pushed out once before solely because
of his age. He was no longer allowed to serve as editor of the Times
once he reached the mandatory retirement age of 65. Then, more than a
year ago, Rosenthal's column was cut from twice a week to once. Still,
Abe never saw it coming.
What's the matter? Don't the editors and corporate honchos at the New
York Times believe what they preach about the indispensability of our
senior citizens? Don't they believe in diversity? Don't they believe
"alternative lifestyles" include living longer?