At The Huffington Post, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich railed against how angry and divided America is and blamed it on a yawning gap of economic inequality. James Taranto of The Wall Street Journal added, “Somehow he neglects to notice that his own political allies try to incite resentment of ‘millionaires and billionaires,’ ‘corporate jet owners’ and similar targets."
Like many American liberals, he longs for the days when CBS News told everyone what to think: “Within this cacophony, we've lost trusted arbiters of truth -- the Edward Murrows and Walter Cronkites who could explain what was happening in ways most Americans found convincing.” He complained that “cable news and yell radio” make America angrier:
Meanwhile, cable news and yell radio compete for viewers and listeners by being ever more strident. Not long ago I debated a Republican economic advisor on a cable TV program. During the brief station-break, the show's producer told me to "be angrier." I told her I didn't want to be angrier. "You have to," she said. "Viewers are surfing through hundreds of channels and will stop for a gladiator contest."
Taranto cracked: “If an angry Robert Reich is this network's idea of a ‘gladiator contest,’ it's no wonder nobody's watching.”
