A Missing Voice

While watching the World Series my wife said something that struck a chord. She noted that somewhere Charles Krauthammer was smiling. He was a huge fan of the Washington Nationals.

It made me think of how much I miss his intellect and commentary.

There’s nobody in the current universe of political talking heads who have taken his place, in my view. Krauthammer was the best.

He passed away a year-and-half ago at the age of 68, and no one has replaced him.

Dr. Krauthammer was no fan of the current president and often pointed out his mistakes. He was able to that and still be considered a strong conservative voice. I had the same feeling about the late Tim Russert, who was able to spout criticism of those on the left and still keep his job at NBC.

Look around the landscape and point out one talking head on Fox, MSNBC or CNN who can “call it as they see it?” Everyone is hunkered down in political dogma, merely mimicking party talking points into the camera.

That’s why I can’t watch it. I used to be a political junkie watching a couple of hours of news channel blather every night. Now, I look for the reruns of “Law and Order” and “Criminal Minds.” I might even stop in for an occasional “American Pickers” I do it to escape. I just can’t make myself care about the endless civil war of words which dominates our politics.

It was Krauthammer who made sense of it for me. And he is gone. It’s taken all this time for me to understand that he was a significant voice for reason instead of partisanship. If only there was an heir….if only there was another reasoned voice coming out of my TV.

In tribute to his memory, I’m pulling for a World Series crown for Washington.