It took a wise man to utter the words, "Quam parva sapientia regitur mundus" that explained, in advance, the Fall of Rome. Cicero, the great orator, said, "With how little wisdom is the world governed." It has taken another man ninety-two years to offer the same explanation, at the start of TV's fall season and his retirement, to America. Andy Rooney, the great commentator, is clearing out his desk at CBS to get his house in order, in a manner of speaking.
Andy, who admits that he shuns fame and hates to hear his name called or chanted in public, describes himself as a paid writer. But instead of being able to write and talk about what he knows, Andy wisely questions (cf. "Question The Questions"). He admits honestly how little common sense there is in common man (cf. "Sense And Consequence"). And, in the process, Andy Rooney has chronicled the effects, sometimes affects as well, of a changing America.
We heard weekly, but never weakly, how confusing and frustrating the pursuit of the American Dream turned in to a nightmare for most Americans. Andy wondered aloud how so many things Americans had been able to depend upon, like thoughtful and responsible dealings in business if not government, had given way to corrupting greed. A not-so-new mechanism, set on the spin cycle, was now driving America, in general, and Rooney, in particular, crazy.
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Oddly enough, Andy Rooney's lambaste of the dis-ease and dysfunction plaguing America was answered more by the "60 Minutes" sponsors than by Rooney himself. 'There's a pill for that' was aired before and after 'Andy's having the final word'. Dare I wonder aloud whether Andy Rooney's commentary was spun to get viewers to ask their doctors, or cosmetologists given Rooney's appearance, for something to relieve the problems we face - not the least of which is unpaid or under-paid work.
O' the woes of a nation caught in the throes of an addiction to entitlement fed by prescription drugs! You may quote me or feel betrayed by Andy Rooney in an unwisely governed world.
