The LuLac Edition #4, 645, December 15th, 2021

 

WRITE ON WEDNESDAY

Our “Write On Wednesday” logo. 

Last Thursday Brian Williams said a type of “see ya later” to his national audience. After 28 years in the broadcast business Williams was not sentimental or maudlin personally. Nor was he upbeat about the future of America. He was realistic warning of a country that has be degraded by people who should know better. Here’s his final (for now) remarks.

BRIAN WILLIAMS’ FINAL MESSAGE ON MSNBC

After 28 years of Peacock logos on much of what I own, it is my choice now to jump without a net into the great unknown. As I do for the first time in my 62 years, my biggest worry is for my country. The truth is I'm not a liberal or a conservative, I'm an institutionalist. I believe in this place and in my love of country I yield to no one.

But the darkness at the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It's now at the local bar, and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store. And it must be acknowledged and answered for.

Grown men and women who swore an oath to our constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kinds of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not, while hoping we somehow forget who they were. They've decided to burn it all down with us inside.

That should scare you to no end as much as scares an aging volunteer fireman.

To my coworkers, my love and thanks. And I say again, everyone I've worked with has made me better at what I do. To my family, love and thanks doesn't begin to cover it, but now I have the time to better express it. My friends know who they are, no one's been blessed with better friends.

To the guests on this broadcast... it's always been about you, otherwise I'd be staring into the camera for an hour 5 nights a week and nobody wants to see that. You are 'The 11th hour," and will continue to be "The 11th Hour." This is where I thank you, however, for being so great, for explaining these last 5 years.

As a proud New Jersey native, this is where I get to say 'regrets, I've had a few, then again too few to mention.' What a ride it's been. Where else, how else was a kid like me going to meet presidents, and kings, and the occasional rock star? These lovely testimonials, that I can never truly repay, make me hyper-aware that it has been, and remains a wonderful life. It's as if I'm gonna wake up tomorrow morning in Bedford Falls.

The reality though is I will wake up tomorrow in the America of the year 2021, a nation unrecognizable to those who came before us and fought to protect it. Which is what you must do now.

 My colleagues will take it from here. I will probably find it impossible to stay silent and stay away from you, and lights and cameras after I experiment with relaxation and find out what I've missed and what's out there.

Every weeknight for decades I've said some version of the same thing: Thank you for being here with us. Us, meaning the people who produce this broadcast for you, and You, well without you there is no us. I'll show myself out. Until we meet again, that is our broadcast for this Thursday night. Thank you for being here with us. And for all my colleagues at the networks of NBC news, good night.

 My colleagues will take it from here. I will probably find it impossible to stay silent and stay away from you, and lights and cameras after I experiment with relaxation and find out what I've missed and what's out there.

Every weeknight for decades I've said some version of the same thing: Thank you for being here with us. Us, meaning the people who produce this broadcast for you, and You, well without you there is no us. I'll show myself out. Until we meet again, that is our broadcast for this Thursday night. Thank you for being here with us. And for all my colleagues at the networks of NBC news, good night.