Rick Meet Icarus, Or How the Bright Light of Daily Can Melt the Wax Wings of Cable Fame

Be careful what you wish for, because it just might come true. Or, how reporting from the "pit" can turn into the "pits."

How much better can it get for an obscure, at best, cable TV "reporter"? A shot at the "bigs" -- a guest spot on The Daily Show with John Stewart? Show up -- take a few shots and move on. That's what Rick Santelli should have done but didn't. Why he canceled, or had it canceled for him, his scheduled appearance on arguably one of the most popular shows on cable we don't know. Likely it wasn't really for the reason doled out by CNBC -- "...the story had moved on..." What story? That is the real problem.

Santelli's "rant" as it has become known, against parts of the Obama stimulus package, most notably those portions aimed at struggling home owners, is well documented. There is an entire "journalism" discussion that can, and probably should, go on about it. Should reporters "vent" on TV? What and who is really a "reporter"? If I remember correctly one well-known "reporter" actually wrote a haiku and read it on the air during his coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Goodness.

But I digress. Once he'd blown off steam and there was some -- actually a lot by cable and Internet standards -- reaction to his antics from the public, Santelli was viewed in some corners as the modern version of the character Howard Beale in the 1976 classic, Network.

So far so good, except, you have to know when to let go -- know your limitations. But that's tough when you live on the fringes of TV, particularly now when ad sales are down and being a broadcaster in general is difficult to say the least. So CNBC and NBC just wouldn't let it go. Once you see your name in the New York Times, once you're mentioned at a White House press briefing, once you're accused of being involved in a "conspiracy" (what the hell was that about?) -- the whole thing takes on a life of its own. You are somebody!

Aye, there's the rub. Because eventually someone will ask the simple question -- Who? What is this really all about? What are the facts? And when that happens you have to have answers. Explain yourself. It's what happens when the light of day is shone on the fringes and you have to move out of the "pit" and into the mainstream. That light can get very hot and you have to be ready for that eternal question -- "Who's your Daddy?"

Comments

[ThePeacemakers]

As much as the financial elite is scared to death of regulation and exposure of their fraud, they better be glad for Obama: reasonable and even-tempered.

He communicates that well. And might be a main reason Wall St. isn't up in flames (figuratively and maybe even literally speaking).

[DiogenesOfAlaska]

Yeah, I feel let down, too.

I was so hoping that after the 'rants', Santelli would go for the 'cantos'. Well, maybe next time.

[Zebo99]

Our government (using our tax dollars) is about to embark on a poorly conceived plan to help homeowners. It's not that helping solve this problem is bad, it's that the plan they've developed to do it was apparently drafted by some third grader that didn't know know a darn thing about the mortgage industry. Do any of you commenters know the details of the housing plan? I've got no time to bash Democrats or Republicans. But I do have a real interest in how the government spends your money and my money to solve a problem. Check out this blog post that provides an alarming look at what the "modification" portion of the housing plan provides: http://www.centristsoapbox.com/?p=90
It's a little frightening. Maybe if we all spent a little more time learning the details about these important issues we'd have less time to rate the performance of some trader on the floor of the Chicago exhange.

[serindipity803]

I love the title of this article. Icarus-how complete.

[oldgeek1]

If I were the white house I would call a meeting of all the so called media experts and critics and have them draft a plan for the economy, with there names on the blame line. Then have the President present it to the congress as an alternative plan and we can all see how far that goes.

A ballsy poker move but its easy to throw rocks when you sit in the cheap seats. Lets see how much heat Santelli can take from within the street.

[magicwanz]

Rick Santelli did us all a favor by drawing attention, not just to himself, but to all the Wall St weinies on CNBC. Fox's business channel must have tanked because CNBC got there first and cornered the market on twinkie business journalists. CNBC is just 24 hours-a-day infomercialsm for Wall St, plain and simple. Sadly, CNBC is just a case in point for much of the rest of cable "journalism" in general. Wall St was a much bigger, more important part of the economy in 1929 than it is now. It's a mere fraction of what's going on in our, let alone the world's, economy. Sorry Rick. The audience for all your whining and sniveling (some call it "ranting") is small indeed.

[Meah]

Rick Santelli did us all a favor by not showing up at the Daily Show. What happened after that is just plain wonderful. The people in this country need to take a real cue from Jon Stewart and start asking some questions that we have every right to ask and have not. The press has really let this country down, and Jon Stewart had to show them what they are doing by their laziness. CNBC needs to get it act together after this. And so do the rest of the cable T.V. lying blatherers who do so much damage to our country in so many ways. Lying is just commonplace now, and it should not be tolerated.

[aFlyoverPerson]

Rick is afraid of all the homeowners he has insulted that are threatening his family (not).

[WorldGriot]

"Fame is a prime lifter as a trophy mistress but she is basic instincts when the thrill is gone." I cringe whenever I see vacuous people being so thoroughly eviscerated after they are lifted to the heights of nobility by the media. it pains me thoroughly. However, this latest skewering of Santelli and Limbaugh and (Next on the List) Kudlow makes me really rejoice. These SOB's have the nerve to trash the workers who built their glass houses and whom they were instrumental in cheating (as John Stewart so plainly showed in their recommendations and subsequent failure of the market) and never taking time to notice their houses were made of glass. And it was very thin glass at that. They deserve a public drubbing and all such phonies need to have their butts kicked all across America. You should followup and show more about Kramer, Santelli and Kudlow as well as Limbo (sic on purpose). Lets see what roles they really played in this crash and how are they making out?

[Soulsurfer]

I heartily applaud Stewart's skewering of Santelli, well done sir. Santelli is obviously not ready for the bigs......­..........­..

[SierraVista]

It's becoming way too common...all this 'ranting'--TV folks disquise it as 'voices'--it's simply loud filler. thanks for the comment...­.appreciat­e it...

[raker]

It's a common story. A person cheats a little too much or overreaches a bit too far, and instead of the slight advantage they were hoping for they get something far worse: noteworthy success that leads to infamy. (If only Rosie Ruiz had come in second instead of first, she'd have had a slightly smaller moment of glory and might never have been found out.) Hey you cheaters and deceivers out there, reel it in a little.