Cronkite will be missed ...has been missed by the media for year's now. God bless his family and media friends.

He was definetly the Gold Standard of his field. I grew up watching his broadcasts. He was the epitome of the what a great journalist should be.He will be missed.
My sincere regards to his loved ones.

Best part of this ugly, ugly world we've made is that people like Walter Cronkite are not sorry to leave it. I bet he went peacefully.

Walter Cronkite's journalistic integrity provides a stark contrast to most of the current crop of corporate stenographers who parrot only the official reality.

Cronkite demonstrate how real journalism; the ability to speak truth to power, can have a powerful impact on the course of events. After visiting Vietnam and reporting on the Tet offensive, Cronkite informed America of the stalemate that could not be won.

"President Lyndon Johnson is reported to have said, 'If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America'."

Within a relatively brief period, Johnson would announce to the nation that he would not run for re-election.

Also, did you notice? That great American heroes like Cronkite are ignored in the now-controlled media? When I was a kid, I remember seeing specials on great Americans like Cronkite and JFK. Do you see that anymore since the mainstream media was taken over? They want us to forget about great Americans. And forget about what they said, too, more importantly.

Think about how much more important Cronkite was than Michael Jackson.

Related to Ernie's comment, blogger dcap notes (via email):

Walter Cronkite - Feb 27, 1968, the beginning of the end

To say that we are closer to victory today is to believe, in the face of the evidence, the optimists who have been wrong in the past. To suggest we are on the edge of defeat is to yield to unreasonable pessimism. To say that we are mired in stalemate seems the only realistic, yet unsatisfactory, conclusion. On the off chance that military and political analysts are right, in the next few months we must test the enemy's intentions, in case this is indeed his last big gasp before negotiations. But it is increasingly clear to this reporter that the only rational way out then will be to negotiate, not as victors, but as an honorable people who lived up to their pledge to defend democracy, and did the best they could.

This is Walter Cronkite. Good night.

13 days later, on March 12, 1968, incumbent and sitting President, Lyndon Johnson barely wins the New Hampshire primary
4 days later, on March 16, 1968 - Robert Kennedy enters the Presidential race
15 days later, on March 31, 1968 - Lyndon Johnson announces he will not run for President
5 days later, on April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King is assassinated
61 days later, on June 4, 1968 Kennedy is assassinated

who says Cronkite didnt change the world.....

I remember the story Cronkite reported on about President Bush using forged documents that he knew were probably not legitimate. Actions like this delegitimate his honorable past and make me not unhappy when phonies like him pass.

Wasn't that Dan Rather?

This is why the media is useless to us

Obama's Doctor is "uninvited" to ABC talk on healthcare because he was going to talk about single payer.

Much to my regret because a great journalist, Walter Cronkite has died! Condolences his family!

Growing up in the 60's with a Father in Vietnam Walter was always on nightly in our house as my Mother scoured the channels on the news of the war. Cronkite, Brinkley and Huntley were a different breed then what we see today

Robert Morales' comment reflects the wisdom in Mark Twain's observation that "a lie can make it half way 'round the world before the truth can put its boots on."

As Big Dan correctly observes, the story alluded to by Mr. Morales involved Dan Rather rather than Walter Cronkite. It pertained to (a) the strings pulled so that George W. Bush could evade service in Vietnam by entering the Texas Air National Guard, and (2) George W's failure to fulfill his service obligation.

The claim that Rather had relied on "forged" documents is a bogus smear that was launched by the right wing echo chamber immediately after the broadcast.

For those interested in the truth about that broadcast, I would recommend linking to Amy Goodman's interview of Mary Mapes, the producer responsible for both the Rather "National Guard" piece and the CBS segment that exposed the Abu Ghraib scandal.

In the wake of these broadcasts, CBS, pressured by the Bush regime, fired both Rather and Mapes.

Correction to comment #4. "Cronkite informed America of the stalemate that could not be won."

The report that President Johnson said, in response to the Cronkite Vietnam "stalemate" report, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America," comes from a very reliable source --- Bill Moyers, who was then serving as Johnson's press secretary.

Once again, Glenn Greenwald knocks it out of the park. It is uncanny how he keeps nailing my precise feeling on so many things, and the way he addresses the problem of enduring the fascist media snots eulogizing Cronkite is dead bang on the nail head.

Thank goodness we still have Bill Moyers and BradBlog!

Cronkite's exposure HAS been minimized as far as I can tell. He had lots of important things he cared about and I'm sure he wasn't as active as he was when he was younger, but as far as showing up on over-the-air television, he didn't. I did see him a couple of times, saying how television news had become tainted by profit motives.

This is a day for modern news organizations to reflect on their performance for the last couple of decades.

It needn't have been so long 99, when it was said in a few words on your link.

their purpose not to tell truth to the powerful but to transmit lies to the powerless.

Ain't that the fucking truth

Yes.

Here it is in another short form, Flo.

And, yeah, I strive for a new form of succinctitude and Glenn certainly isn't looking to do that kind of communication loading, but, as I am regularly reminded, a lot of people need it Glenn's way. Maybe someday I will have developed my idea well enough to be at least as clear with much less, but, wow, that guy is just rock solid on so much that has gone way into the psychedelic zone out there. I really appreciate it.

Thanks 99 for the excellent links.

I came to see that news is what people want to keep hidden, and everything else is publicity. --- Bill Moyers

Look at my comment #5, and then look at this:

Amazon Kindle users surprised by 'Big Brother' move

http://www.guardian.co.u...ul/17/amazon-kindle-1984

Think about it, it makes perfect sense. How can the media, the way it is controlled now, celebrate Cronkite the right way? They'd be "doing their job"!

Agent 99:

Did you catch Cronkite's slip of the tongue in your short video? He said the "ruling crass."

How true!

I had the idea he was used to referring to them that way, and just didn't catch himself in time. It was fitting....

"The ruling *crass*"

perfect description

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