russellrhodesblog

Goddammit, I love this movie! I’m on a plane. Seen it now three times. It gets better every time. You know why? It’s about extraordinary times when people knew they had to tell the truth. In this case, the truth behind the Vietnam War. Now, it’s easy to say that it was a special time. You know though, the Washington Post, The New York Times or any publication with a great story lives in a special time. For that matter, any paper, TV station or internet publication lives in extraordinary times. I got into the news business because of this story and one other. The Pentagon Papers and Watergate. I’ve spent a career trying to tell the truth. By God, I still got a little gas in this tank. Let’s keep telling it! You with me?

I haven’t been back here in awhile. It’s easy to forget what a great place New York City is. Just the vibe. You walk out of your hotel and feel it. Alive. We came back here to celebrate our marriage. Six years ago, we got married in Central Park. That was before same sex marriage was legal everywhere in the U.S. So nice to come back here and celebrate. The food. The shopping. The theatre. We saw ” Hello Dolly” last night. Bernadette Peters. What a fun show. She was great. The whole thing was great. Simple show with amazing music. We are headed back home today. Back to real life. A few days of NYC is a great way to relax and recharge.

“Wow, wow, wow, fellas. Look at the old girl now, fellas.” And I do mean me!

It kinda says it all. We may never know exactly what was being said at that moment at the G-7, but I think we have a pretty good idea. Just look at the body language between Merkel and Trump. I mean, you can make up your own caption. It could be, “The world is not going to tolerate your trade policy, Mr. President. Or, “Young man, you are going to bed without your supper.” Either way, she’s mad. By all accounts, he’s really done it this time. Pissed off the allies. Insulted Canada. I mean, who insults Justin Trudeau??!! Now, we are off to Singapore and a meeting with Lil’ Kim. After the G-7, we can only go up. It’s gonna be a fun couple of days.

I had said for days that I was going to stay as far away from the Meghan Markle and  Prince Harry wedding as possible.  I mean, it was everywhere and you couldn’t stay away entirely… but my plan was to sleep through it and get the highlights later.  So, what happened?  Well, for one thing, I found my husband watching the Lifetime movie about Meghan and Harry on Friday night.  My first thought about it was how much those actors really looked like them.  After that, I was stuck.  Watched the entire thing.  Still, I wanted to sleep through the wedding and get the highlights.  Well, I woke up.  I woke up!  No alarm, I just woke up.  So, there I was.  Do I try and avoid it or do I watch?  I watched.  Let me tell you this, I’m so glad I did.  It was beautiful.  She was beautiful.  He was beautiful.  What I’m so glad I saw though was Bishop Michael Curry’s sermon.  He knocked it out of the park.  The Royals had no idea what hit ’em!  Now, I grew up Southern Baptist in Paris, Texas.  I’m not one anymore, but I know good preaching when I hear it.  That was some of the best preaching I have ever heard.  “The Power of Love.”  Bishop Curry said, “Love can be sacrificial, and in so doing, become redemptive.  That way of unselfish sacrificial, redemptive love changes lives.”  The choir that followed was the perfect period on an amazing message about love.  “Stand by Me” performed by Karen Gibson and The Kingdom Choir should be a top ten hit.  Why was I so moved by all this?  This beautiful, perfect day in Windsor?  Maybe it was what had happened the day before in Santa Fe, Texas.  Another school shooting.  Ten killed.  Ten hurt.  Here we are again.  Of the places that should be the safest, an act of horrific violence.  That one student said, “I always kind of felt like eventually it was going to happen here too,” is heartbreaking.  We have to plan for these things now.  We have to know when to hide, to run or to fight.  I cannot believe we are still debating what to do about guns.  We have to do something.  Anything.  Just do it.  Don’t let this happen again.  I’m tired of having to read these stories out loud on TV.  I’ll do it again tomorrow.  The aftermath.  The outrage. Soon summer will be here.  School will be out and we can not worry about it again until fall.  I hope it’s different this time.  I hope these kids, like those in Parkland, will help change things.  Maybe the summer can be used to do that.  I guess this is why I was so into the Royal wedding.  It was a break from it all.  I have to say though I was worried the entire time that rode in that carriage.  It’s how we live now, I guess.  Fear of something awful happening, but hoping it will all turn out okay.  I titled this post “Opposite Ends.”  For me, the news on Friday and Saturday were opposite ends of the spectrum.  The one thing that Bishop Curry said stuck with me.  On the power of love, “Think and imagine a world where love is the way… we actually treat each other, well like we are actually family.”

I saw a movie that I think will make a difference for a great many young people wrestling with their sexuality. “Love, Simon.” It’s about a high school kid who is coming to terms with the fact that he is gay. Twists and turns, but a happy ending. I’m a movie theatre snob. I usually go to these over 21 theatres that do not allow kids. For “Love, Simon,” I was forced to see it in a regular movie theatre. So glad I did. It was full of young people. Kids reacting. Kids cheering for Simon. It was refreshing. I can only imagine how this movie might have played a few years ago. I do think we have made progress. A long way to go still, but progress. I read that some adults have said they wished they had had this movie to help them come out. I understand. It would have helped me too. That said, I’m just glad I live in a time where there is a movie like this and we can talk about it.

I like to believe that I can plow through just about anything. It may not be pretty in the end, but I will eventually get there. Then, there are the allergies. I’ve read the news with kidney stones, but this week my allergies took me down. They are getting worse too. I’ve been taking allergy shots for seven months now. I really thought this year’s oak pollen season would be better for me. So far, it’s terrible. Left work on Thursday. Stayed in bed all the rest of that day and Friday. Just miserable. Headache. Nose bleeds. Stuffy. No voice. I’m on antibiotics and steroids now. They are helping. I’m lucky though because I can take off work when I’m sick. The only repercussion is a letter once a year telling me how many days I was sick. For those that can’t call in sick or are self-employed, I’m sorry. That has to be a terrible thing. And I know there are a ton of people in that very situation. I’m going back to work on Monday. I’ll be better by then. I’ll go in for the weekly allergy shot on Tuesday. I think it might be time to discuss how much these things are helping. Also, which state has the lowest oak pollen count? Anyone there need a late fifty something morning TV anchor? I can plow through anything. Well, almost anything.

“I read the news out loud on TV.” When people ask me what I do for a living, that’s what I say. I have always hated calling myself an ” anchorman” or a “news anchor.” That’s Walter Cronkite or Peter Jennings or Tom Brokaw. The big boys. All that said, whatever you want to call it, what I do for a living is getting harder everyday. The news is bad. I’ve been doing this for more than thirty-five years now and I have to tell you it is harder right now to “read the words out loud” than it has ever been. This latest school shooting in Florida has really done a number on me. For one thing, it’s too close. Just a few hours away. The other thing is that it just keeps happening. When are we going to figure out a way to stop this kind of thing from happening? I do believe that this time is different. The conversation continues. I do think some real solutions may come out of this. Not soon enough, though. These high school kids who are taking this on impress me. The survivors, but also the ones in other schools who are just fed up. I feel change this time. I wonder which of our lawmakers and leaders will be on the right side of history on this? Many, I think, will be out of a job sooner than later. I’m needing my news stories to change. I would love it Monday morning if I could say, “Sweeping gun control measures just past in the House and Senate. The Bill is on the President’s desk. He/She will sign it in a Rose Garden ceremony with school shooting survivors.” Not this Monday, I’m afraid. I interview Chris Wallace from Fox News on Fridays about his Sunday show. This week, on the subject of gun violence, Chris said, “I’m tired of talking about this.” I know what he means. I am too. We will keep talking about it though until it’s fixed. We have to.