Brugge Blog

“Bill Moyers for president!” This became one of the cheers at the National Conference on Media Reform last weekend here in Madison. As Studs Terkel, the surprise guest said by way of introducting Moyers, if someone asked me who the ideal president would be, the choice of someone with integrity, honesty, passion and compassion is easy.

Bill Moyers’ keynote speech that night was a labor of love and passion, for life and democracy and, above all, people. I had read some of Moyers’ writings before, and knew something of his stature in the journalist’s world, but hearing him speak was a tremendous experience. His clean-cut handsome looks belie the activist passion that burns in him.

What didn’t get transcribed from his speech, unfortunately, was some of the ad-lib riffs he did off of Studs’ introduction: “if I were elected president, it would be with Studs as my vice-president. And the first thing I’d do after taking the oath of office would be to resign. Then I would sit back and watch the show!”