I have a sad, cold, heart broken, disappointed feeling in my gut this morning reading the Brian Williams story. To watch him have to slink off the world stage in such a shameful fashion seems almost unbearable to me. I don’t know him, never watched his show or followed his career but I guess there’s something in all of us that makes us feel the need to be more than we really are.
I guess it’s unthinkable to go to a war torn country and have it turn out uneventful. So we embellish to make ourselves bigger than life. We’re just not that interesting in our present state.
I went to Vietnam and experienced a handful of skirmishes but nothing like the “grunts” who plowed through the swampy jungles every day. But the temptation to color it up was always there until you grow out of that phase and the war fades from your memory. Most of the folks you regaled didn’t give a shit anyway. They were either too stoned or were dead set against the war in the first place.
So I guess I can understand at some level why he tried to make his own news. Imagine if he had Geraldo with him? I have no bad thoughts or ill will against this man. I just ache inside because I know there’s a part of all of us that thinks we’re just not good enough.
Please note: I welcome comments that are offensive, illogical or off-topic from readers in all states of consciousness.