DadJack.com Blog

I just finished watching the President speak at the Tucson Memorial Service, he spoke much of civility… This has been something I have been thinking about much, even before this recent tragedy.

When I started working on The Insana Quotient I didn’t know much about politics or finance… Heck to be totally honest before working on the show I had never watched CNBC or ever heard of Ron Insana.  I needed a job and radio is what I know how to do, I figured it was no different than other radio situation I had been in… I had never run an audio board before starting to board-op the morning show, Never been part of a talk show before The Jamie and Danny Show, knew nothing about country music as I entered the Executive Producer position on The Tony and Kris Show, so I figured I could work this out.

I didn’t really know the format of the show when I started… I mean I thought I did, but I didn’t.  It wasn’t until I had the chance to get to know Ron that I truly understood what his vision was.  In a world of Beck, Limbaugh, O’Rielly and Schultz, where enthusiasm and opinion mask as fact he wanted to deliver fair, balanced debate based on fact…. It sounds simple, but it has been lost somewhere along the line.

He and I have discussed this at length and tried to figure out how to market the show so people who really want to discuss topics with civility and intelligence could find the show.  It’s a hard sell in today’s media… It seems only the extremists, the radical gain attention, no one is interested in civility.

So when the tragic events in Tucson took place last weekend Ron took it pretty hard… He really believes what he preaches, it is not a show for ratings like that so many others perform nightly in the circus that masks as news.  He was honestly considering leaving the business.  But we chugged on.

So yesterday, totally unrelated to Tucson, Ron posted a blog on The Huffington Post giving his views on the state of the economy and where we are headed. Which I thought was pretty cool… But when I spoke with him this morning he was kind of bummed.  Apparently of the over 200 comments 90+% were negative.  It’s not that he can’t take criticism, it was that many attacked him personally and totally discounted his ideas without ever really considering their validity.

If there is one thing I have learned in my 6 months in the financial/political news world it’s that no one wants to hear anything positive.   If you’re not advocating the demise of our economy and the investment option of buying gold and burying it in your backyard no one wants to listen.  There is no room for positivity or an optimistic outlook in finance and politics.

I know things are and have been horrible for many of us… I personally was unemployed for 2 1/2 of the last 10 years, had to declare bankruptcy and short sell my home.  And yet, I still don’t think it’s the end of the world or the dollar.  I can see, although faint recovery building and I know that as in the past things will rebound, America will be back on it’s feet.

And it’s not as if Ron is just spouting sunshine and rainbows, he actually has based his opinions on his experience and knowledge of the economy and financial theories… It just was disheartening for me to see someone stepped on because he isn’t selling doom and gloom.

Rock On, Jack