Centerfield

my super-awesome interview with bob wiltfong and hosting "The Nightly Show" starting Monday

Posted by: Daniel at March 25, 2005 10:38 AM

I'll start this thread with a non-Schiavo announcement.

I've been admitted to Journalism school starting in the Fall. My software engineering career has tanked, so I've been looking for an exit strategy. Not that journalism is lucrative, but I like to write, and as I get older, my verbal skills are sticking around even as my math skills fade.

I'm planning to start a new blog soon on media and journalism. I was waiting to make sure I got in before I did it.

Posted by: rickheller at March 25, 2005 10:42 AM

Rick,

What school? Are you moving?

Posted by: Todd Pearson at March 25, 2005 10:52 AM

I will be staying in Boston. I've been admitted to Boston University. Still waiting to hear from Emerson.

Posted by: rickheller at March 25, 2005 10:57 AM

Cool Rick! Congratulations! If there is anything the world needs, it is good truth seeking journalists. I am working with a Boston University affiliated program in DC to earn a Master's level graduate certificate in Project Management. They are a good school from what I can tell.

Posted by: Mathew at March 25, 2005 11:09 AM

Rick,

That's awesome! I'm actually a little jealous. I've always wanted to write, and even got accepted in the University of Florida's journalism school a number of years ago, but somehow got sidetracked...lol.

Congrats!

Posted by: AH at March 25, 2005 11:24 AM

Every time I see "SS" mentioned on this blog, I think of Nazis.

Congrats, Rick. I envy you!

Posted by: Steven Brown at March 25, 2005 11:47 AM

Good for you rick, and good luck. I'm sure others have told you, but don't spend too much time in J-school before getting your feet wet.

I thought about journalism at one point. Two places I'd like to work: consumer reports, or for the pew center.

Anyone else interested in fantasy baseball? My league might need another manager or two? Or we could start a centerfield league.

Posted by: bk at March 25, 2005 01:08 PM

I would be up for a Centerfield Fantasy Baseball League...

Posted by: Mathew at March 25, 2005 01:25 PM

rick--congrads

Posted by: Daniel at March 25, 2005 01:47 PM

I'm in 71st place (out of 135 people) in the office NCAA pool, but I am the only one who picked Louisville to win it all. (31 of the people in front of me picked Illinois.) A Louisville win and an Illinois loss on Saturday would have me feeling pretty good.

Posted by: Todd Pearson at March 25, 2005 02:16 PM

Rick;
Congrats. Now that your a journalist does that mean we won't hear your opinion anymore?

Have a great Easter everyone.

Posted by: C3 at March 25, 2005 02:43 PM

Rick:

Welcome to the dark side, my man. Don't bother bringing your integrity along -- you won't be needing that.

Seriously, congratulations. We need more like you.

Posted by: Staunch Moderate at March 25, 2005 02:58 PM

Thanks everyone for your confidence in me. I appreciate it.

I will definitely be blogging here through September. After that, I expect to continue to post, time permitting. It's an 18 month program, 12 months of classes plus one semester of internship--which means you get to work for free while paying the school tuition :-) After that, I may have to go "objective" and withhold my POV.

Happy Easter, everyone!

Posted by: rickheller at March 25, 2005 03:06 PM

Rick,

Congrats! But what happened with the software engineering career? I ask because that's what I've done for 20+ years but I have an EE degree. I've used little of my math skills have used my analytical and writing skills.

What type of journalism do you wish to do? Are you interested in the tech reporting type work like cnet.com? Does the 'media' require a degree in journalism to hire journalists? Just wondering.

Posted by: EG at March 25, 2005 03:35 PM

Rick, just wanted to add my congratulations and best wishes on your new career! I don't always agree with you, but you always express yourself clearly and respsectfully, which I respect very much.

Posted by: PatHMV at March 25, 2005 04:18 PM

Good luck Rick. Journalism seems more exciting than software anyway (or at least it's something I can understand!)

Marc

Posted by: MWS at March 25, 2005 04:26 PM

On the issue of the Schiavo case, I just wanted to say that I am very concerned at the ideological purity that many of my fellow Republicans seem to be insisting on with this case. Some of them treat any opposition to them, any support for the courts, any pointing out that there may be 2 legitimate sides to this dispute, as evidence that you are with the "culture of death" and in favor of eugenics and the slaughter of those who are no longer "useful" to society. The unwillingness to engage in any rational debate scares me, as does the willingness of some conservative bloggers (for whom I normally have a lot of respect) to leap into this fray without actually reading the relevant court opinions, and accepting at face value claims made by Terry Randall that they would never accept in a million years if brought by the MSM.

As I have said before in this blog, my concern is not as much with particular policy outcomes (though I have my beliefs there, too) as it is with the manner in which we debate and arrive at those policy decisions. Does anybody else share this concern with this case?

Posted by: PatHMV at March 25, 2005 04:27 PM

Pat, welcome to the flip side of the True Believer syndrome. It was all too visible on the left last year during election season. It wasn't quite as noticable on the right because they were sitting on a lead, and didn't have to stir up the zealots as much. Indeed, the zealots of the left did better work for the right just by playing directly to stereotype.

But it's there on both sides. Always. Not a majority, but a very noisy and influential and public bunch, spread among factions.

So here's the ground rules for True Believerdom. You must never ever ever question the prevailing orthodoxy, nor even acknowledge that there may conceivably be any error in revealed doctrine. To do so brands you as one of Them. They are Evil, opposed to all that is pure and righteous. They are the Enemy.

Thought is not required, indeed, it is actively discouraged. If you show persistent signs of being able to think enough for yourself to ask meaningfully relevant questions, and insist on doing so, you will inevitably graduate to the level of heretic. Heretics are even worse than Them, because heretics are traitors who once followed the True Path but left it, no doubt for selfish Evil purposes. Heretics are denounced and defiled, excommunicated, and symbolically burned.

Does that cover the basics for you?

Posted by: Tully at March 25, 2005 04:58 PM

Pat;

I just wanted to say that I am very concerned at the ideological purity that many of my fellow Republicans seem to be insisting on with this case

I'm just not convinced there are "many" Republicans actively pushing this. There are a few loud conservatives, most if not all from the Religious Right and most of those who need to rally their constituency. If the polls are to believed (and they jibe with my experience asking this question of a lot of people) most Republicans don't want "the tube back in". So as Tully points out there is an element of true-believerism AND a good amount of politics. Unfortunately, I think the political calculus has backfired.

Is there any court that hasn't been tried yet?

Posted by: c3 at March 25, 2005 05:07 PM

Tully,

Oh, I'm familiar with the syndrome of true-believerdom, and its presence on both sides of the aisle is why I come here sometimes.

C3,

You are correct, there are not "many" Republicans going on that way. But those most active in the party are. Most of my favorite conservative blogs have leaped into the fray, as have just about all Republican elected officials (some of the latter are certainly only doing so in political self-defense, while others are naked opporunists). The danger of this is precisely that the screaming is by enough people that the good guys just run to get out of the way of the freight train for fear of the consequences to their political career for being unorthodox. What worries me about the backfiring of the political calculus (and I don't think this will itself directly influence many votes 2 or 4 years from now) is that the "base" has gotten so riled up that they will do some really stupid things that will cost all Republicans votes. As someone on the conservative side of moderate, that worries me a lot.

Also, I am strongly in favor of replacing activist judges with textualists. We were starting to gain some traction with that movement. But now a big chunk of conservatives is being revealed as in favor of judicial activism, so long as it is judicial activism in favor of their policies. That will make the fight with Democrats over judicial confirmations much harder.

Posted by: PatHMV at March 25, 2005 05:34 PM

Maybe it's just because the more conservative blogs I visit tend to be more on the rational and analytical side, but many of them are deploring the rabble-rousing actions of Congress in this case even while still thinking the case is coming to a bad ending. (As if there could be a good one.)

As with any organization, the most vocal and evangelical faction members are the ones who are the most visible. And yep, it reflects quite badly on the GOP this time. The problem with a Big Tent is that factions become the public face of the party from time to time, even though they don't represent the majority. But a Little Tent is even worse, because then the True Believers rule and the party loses all vitality.

Some are claiming the morbid circus and disagreements within the GOP this last few weeks as a sign of an impending "conservative crackup." I'm skeptical of that (OK, I'm skeptical by nature anyway) but I think it's a lot more worrisome when a party moves in lockstep and has no dissension.

It's tough to remember, because the conventional wisdom is that "Read My Lips" was George Sr's downfall in '92, but the radical pro-lifer's excesses in '90 and '91 also had a lot to do with creating and fueling the Perot populists. I was at Ground Zero for the "Summer of Mercy," and I can attest that the Randall Terry Brigades did at least as much to elect Bill Clinton as any tax increase did. That's a lesson the current Bush should keep in mind.

Posted by: Tully at March 25, 2005 06:14 PM

Oh, yeah, and DON'T MISS Kentucky Dem's great interview with Daily Show correspondent Bob Wiltfong.

Posted by: Tully at March 25, 2005 10:43 PM

EG,

I've been stuck doing ANSI C programming for some time now. I've tried to get into object oriented programming, and taken C++ and Java courses, but I've never been able to work in those languages for more than a few months without getting kicked back into a C project. Plus, each time I learn something new about Java, (e.g. J2EE) I find that there's some new component I don't know that is now considered essential. Even if I could hang on for a few more years, I have a hard time imagining I could remain in the software field until retirement age. Ergo, it's time to make a switch.

With regard to what type of reporting I might do, I'm not counting on getting a job in a daily newspaper. Seems like their economic base is dwindling. I'll definitely take a class in economics journalism, because there will always be a demand for stories about business.

Posted by: rickheller at March 26, 2005 12:21 AM

thanks tully.

Posted by: Daniel at March 26, 2005 01:11 AM