The Bad Penny (beta)

(This article – originally published in July 2009 on IndiePit as a reflection of Frank Zappa’s legendary debate with CNN pundit Robert Novak in 1986 – is, sadly, even more relevant today than it was when the notions of tyranny and fascism taking hold in the U.S. were mere flights of fancy.)

As a writer who occasionally pretends to attempt to hold up a few of the traditional tenets of journalism – while in my pajamas, of course – on this Friday evening, reverence for Walter Cronkite is on the brain. It’s sad to see him go, as it seems the institution he devoted his life to – journalism – is also on the way out the door. But thankfully, his death could not have been more different than Michael Jackson’s.

Cronkite was the real most trusted name in news (not CNN). And watching cable-news talking heads recite his résumé, it’s refreshing to hear these pundits who often falsely pride themselves as “reporters” actually say words like “objectivity,” “truthfulness,” “public trust,” “journalistic standards,” etc. Hopefully those terms don’t fade from the public memory along with “Cronkite.”

That said, one of the gems I’ve heard so far tumbled out of the mouth of Hugh Downs, who recalled Cronkite once saying, “To be a journalist, you must be a liberal.” Funny how his phone cut out immediately after speaking those words. The video isn’t up yet, but it happened about 45 minutes into “Countdown With Keith Olbermann (Substitute) David Shuster.”

An even more authoritative guest caller featured on the show was still-contributing NPR elder statesman Daniel Schorr – who is 92, just like Cronkite was, and yet still sounds remarkably coherent. The general consensus seems to be that Cronkite was equally capable almost until he met his end, actively sailing and giving interviews.

Schorr’s voice was a comforting one, if for no other reason than he must be the only person who could be considered a Cronkite peer – if even that, since no newsman has had more cultural impact than Cronkite; he helped end the Vietnam War, for crying out loud. Compared with these patriarchs, the 77-year-old Dan Rather looks like a bright-eyed novice, and Downs a boyish junior reporter 88 years young.

After watching a bunch of Cronkite coverage, I read up a bit on Schorr, seeing how his life has and has not paralleled his fallen friend’s. His background is, like Cronkite’s was, filled with stories that seem to be works of fiction – even though his trade is news reporting, which is nonfiction (unless it’s on Fox).

One of the less predictable discoveries we made? Schorr spent a lot of time pallin’ around with Frank Zappa. Frank Zappa? Yes, Frank Zappa. That zany legend who was two parts Captain Beefheart; one part Gallagher (or Gallagher Too, maybe); and 10 parts musical Houdini.

“It took me a long time to realize that behind the angry, dirty words about conspiratorial government and the mediocrity of the world around him was hidden a true musical genius who cared a lot about young people,” Schorr wrote in an appreciation after Zappa passed in 1993. “Like a Pied Piper, he wanted to use music to lead young people to an interest in politics.”

I admittedly don’t listen to Frank Zappa as often as I should. He’s often intimidated me as one of those, “Well, hell, where do you even begin?” artists. But I do perceive – and appreciate – him as a brutally honest, truly ardent fan of music, someone who was also unwaveringly protective of artists and their rights.

Now that I think of it, few musicians of the previous century who had as big an audience as Zappa fought as hard for artists’ rights and free speech. Don’t believe me? Watch Zappa make Robert Novak look like a clueless old miser on “Crossfire” – and this was in 1986, 23 years before Novak became the even more clueless and even older miser that he is today:

As you probably noticed, Zappa’s argument is as important now as it was then. He, like Cronkite – and George Carlin and Lenny Bruce and countless others – devoted their careers to making sure people knew the truth. After all, what is censorship but a denial of that freedom to express the truth, or more accurately, the truth as you see it? Their battle against banning words – and the ideas behind those words – is reflective of their status as sentries of the truth. Telling it like you see it, without someone telling you that you’re not allowed to do so.

So what does this all mean? We admit, Zappa and Cronkite weren’t exactly bosom buddies or anything, even if they were both friends of Daniel Schorr. They might not have even been speaking the same language. But they were both “real” people who had enormous – and enormously devout – followings, hopefully by virtue of the fact that neither man cowered from his role of speaking the truth. And speaking the truth to power.

In honor of both of them, and Schorr, here’s a little straight talk from me, delivered after a week of discussing the state of the music industry with artists, label chiefs, fans and others: Before the dust settles in this Apocalypse, in the spirit of Zappa, we need to make sure that artists’ rights are upheld; that Net neutrality is preserved; and that we find a way for artists to be able to fully pursue their creative passions without having a crappy day job eat up most of the time they’d otherwise be spending in pursuit of those passions.

That a great deal of arts funding was stripped from the stimulus package was wrenching – for artists, it was as painful as if Social Security had been ripped out of the New Deal. But if universal health coverage isn’t achieved at some point in the near – or, who knows, maybe not-so-near (or maybe near after all – go here or here) – future, there must be a way for working artists to be ensured that they will be insured.

Oh, and while we’re at it, it’d be nice if writers (and dare we say even bloggers?) get covered too.

And that’s the way it is.

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Check out these recent installments of The Bad Penny‘s On Tyranny series:

• Relaxed Rocksteady Blokes Big Special Get Hammered While Hammering Out Views on MAGA, Farage and Autocracy

• Charlie Nieland on How LGBTQ+ Artists Can Push Back Against ICE, MAGA

• With Authoritarian Takeover Now Complete in U.S., ‘We’re Just Focusing on Survival,’ Queer Artist Nic Pugh of Midniter Says

• Moonspell Vocalist Says Colonialism Caused Gaza Crisis but That Democracy Can Be Restored After Fascist Rule

• Off-Duty Cop Reportedly Pepper-Sprays Teen at Turnstile Concert

This entry was posted on 11/14/2025 at 1:29 am and is filed under Features, On Tyranny, On Tyranny with tags authoritarianism, fascism, Frank Zappa, free speech, On Tyranny, Robert Novak, tyranny. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.