Robert Reich on Facebook: "Just Now in the St. Louis Airport..."

[Hissyspit]

Last edited Thu Oct 8, 2015, 04:39 PM - Edit history (5)

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich/posts/1083624988316763

Just now in the St. Louis airport (where I’m heading to Cincinnati):

Lady: Are you Robert Reich?

Me: Yes.

Lady: So what do you think is going to happen?

Me: About what?

Lady: The election, the economy, everything.

Me: I don’t know.

Lady: I’m voting for Bernie.

Me: Why?

Lady: He tells it straight. He’s not a politician. But my husband likes Trump.

Me: Why?

Lady: Same reasons. My husband says Trump can’t be bought because he’s a billionaire.

Me: Trump just buys other politicians.

Lady: My husband says Trump will get things done.

Me: But will he get things done for billionaires like himself or for regular people?

Lady: I’ll ask my husband.

Me: You should give your husband my new book.

Lady: What book?

Me (pulling a copy out of my briefcase): “Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the few.” Here, you can have this copy. I have more.

Lady (taking book): Well, thank you. I’ll give it to him, (laughing) but he won’t read it.

Me: Why?

Lady: He doesn’t read. He watches Fox News.

Me: Put it on his pillow tonight with a Hershey kiss on top.

[Xyzse]

1. Cute, I love Robert Reich.

[wendylaroux]

2. Love him: )

So smart.

[Duckfan]

3. Awsome move Dr. Reich

[SoapBox]

4. And that sums up the PukeBagger crowd...

They don't read...they watch FuksFakeNews.

[99th_Monkey]

5. Rob't Reich Rocks! nt

[SmittynMo]

6. This was awesome.

[lunatica]

7. I'm surprised anyone talked to him

When I see him on campus he has a definitely forbidding air about him. He very definitely gives the impression he does NOT want to be approached. I can understand. Where I work is UC Berkeley which is full of liberals and progressives. I've never seen him walking with anyone either. But to be honest, I don't see him that often.

But maybe the Idiocrats don't understand the subtleties of 'nuanced' body language.

[Hissyspit]

8. As a college professor...

I can say that if you're walking on campus, you are probably very busy and on your way from something to something else.

But if I'm sitting in an airport, I'm probably bored and wouldn't mind talking.

[lunatica]

30. There have been times when I wanted to say something, even just to say thank you

but he's quite forbidding in his stance. Like I said, I don't blame him nor do I hold it against him. I never approached him because I respect that he may not want to stop and chat with every liberal on campus.

And by the way, I think he's great, so if I sounded like I was criticizing him I wasn't.

[vlyons]

39. Try giving him a smile and a salute

Ask him to autograph your copy of his book. Does he lecture undergrads?

[lunatica]

40. Here's a link to his blog in UC Berkeley

http://blogs.berkeley.edu/author/rreich/

And his official UC web page

https://gspp.berkeley.edu/directories/faculty/robert-reich#about

As you can see you don't contact him directly and you only get to see him by appointment.

He probably has to do that so his office isn't constantly swamped.

[Hissyspit]

42. No, I understood.

[JDPriestly]

10. He may be a bit shy. And certainly very busy.

I don't know about other people, but when I walk I am thinking things through. That is one of my favorite, quite times for thinking about things. Maybe he is like that. It wouldn't surprise me because he thinks out of the box, and to do that you need to create a private space in my experience.

[lunatica]

41. It's more than that in his case

He really doesn't want to be approached. I don't think he's being unfriendly at all, as much as he's making it quite clear he wants his space.

I've worked in UC Berkeley for nearly 20 years. I know all about Faculty having their heads in the biosphere. The body language is very different.

All I would say to him is that I appreciate his work and I would thank him for teaching all of us. but I respect his space.

[TygrBright]

12. Met him at the 2008 Dem Convention... he was gracious and good-humored. n/t

[lunatica]

32. I know, so it's kind of disconcerting to feel there are times

he may be unapproachable. I certainly respect him if he wants his space. But I'm still a fan of his. I get it that in public he might be withdrawn sometimes.

[JI7]

19. at college he is at work, in an airport he is probably happy to do anything to help pass the time

while waiting

[lunatica]

34. You're right. I respect his space, though

I wish I could just thank him for what he does.

[1StrongBlackMan]

28. "Idiocrats"? n/t

[lunatica]

29. I'm referring to the woman who approached him who's husband loves Trump

But are you referring to where I got the word Idiocrats? It comes from a movie called Idiocracy. but I'm assuming you know that.

[JDPriestly]

9. Wonderful! K&R.

And Robert Reich's video here on DU, the one he made in St. Louis at his book-signing at the library in St. Louis is excellent.

Everybody should listen to it so that we can explain why we want change in our economy and for Bernie supporters, why the country needs Bernie.

Please listen to it. Thanks.

[jaxind]

11. Surprise, Surprise!

Surprise, Surprise that her Trump loving husband watches Fox News!

[progressoid]

13. Love the comments on Facebook.

Kelle Watts
- I thought the last line was going to be put his pillow over his head tonight and press down

[elmac]

14. Robert Reicht is one cool dude

would love to take one of his classes at Berkeley. I think the Fox news guy, like most Fox news guys, is beyond help.

[LSK]

15. "He doesn’t read. He watches Fox News. "

Sums it all up right there.

[Skittles]

22. yes

a lot of Americans get their "news" strictly via propaganda

[d_legendary1]

16. A free book from Robert Reich?

That asshole better read it!

[libodem]

17. Love him more

[SmittynMo]

18. Bernie and Robert - 2016

Yeah!!!

[Iwillnevergiveup]

20. Robert Reich

a very articulate, classy gentleman. He's been in my sig line a very long time.

[avaistheone1]

21. k&r

[Eleanors38]

23. Better put an almond in that kiss.

[WillyT]

24. HUGE K & R !!! - Thank You !!!

[robbob]

25. I was very disappointed in CBC radio

Canada's "lefty" public broadcaster. It felt like they, too had gotten a memo about Bernie. They had Robert Reich on a show called "The Current" promoting his new book. The conversation was fascinating, the discussion of income inequality so refreshing (sidebar: anyone know if he's been invited to speak on any mainstream US stations? I'm betting "no&quot , it was really a wake up call from someone who used to be a considered a centrist.

Anyway, the interview is winding up, I'm sitting in my car thinking "mention Bernie, mention Bernie", because the whole conversation to that point sounded like a stump speach from Bernies campaign. The interviewer mentions the upcoming elections, Mr. Reich says something along the lines of "the voters are fed up with politics as usual that only benefit the richest of Americans" and the interviewer spends the next 5 minutes talking about TRUMP!!! Not one single mention of Bernie Sanders!

I was so pissed off I found myself yelling at the radio. I sent of an angry rant to the show, big whoop, but honestly I was very surprised that even in obscure Canadian radio land Bernie remains he who must not be mentioned!

[davidpdx]

26. So cute

I'd be honored just to have a minute to talk to him. I admire him a great deal and read his posts on Facebook. I have also read Aftershock. Next year when I'm in the US I'll buy his book. I've got so many books to read right now it's crazy. I horde them when I am in the US and bring them back because it's so much cheaper.

[Enthusiast]

27. Kicked and recommended!

Me: "But will he get things done for billionaires like himself or for regular people?"

[demwing]

31. "He doesn’t read. He watches Fox News."

You want to kill democracy in America?



Because THIS is how you kill democracy in America!

[LittleGirl]

33. I saw that yesterday

and chuckled at the "He doesn't read. He watches Fox News" b.s.

Sounds like my sister back in 08 when I was visiting and we figured out that I was a far lefty and she was a far righty. She and her partner watched 3 hrs of Fox news every night. OMG, it was horrible. She actually said she didn't read books anymore. Didn't have time. And she freaking drank herself stupid every night too which is why I haven't spoken to her in 3 yrs.

She's retired now, I hope she has started to pick up a book lately. ugh.

[HughBeaumont]

35. "He Doesn't Read. He Watches Fox News":

The Story of a Generation.

I don’t recall my father being so hostile when I was growing up. He was conservative, to be sure, but conventionally and thoughtfully so. He is a kind and generous man and a good father, but over the past five or 10 years, he’s become so conservative that I can’t even find a label for it.

What has changed? He consumes a daily diet of nothing except Fox News. He has for a decade or more. He has no email account and doesn’t watch sports. He refuses to so much as touch a keyboard and has never been on the Internet, ever. He thinks higher education destroys people, not only because of Fox News, but also because I drifted left during and after graduate school.

I do not blame or condemn my father for his opinions. If you consumed a daily diet of right-wing fury, erroneously labeled “news,” you could very likely end up in the same place. Again, this is all by design. Let’s call it the Fox News effect. Take sweet, kindly senior citizens and feed them a steady stream of demagoguery and repetition, all wrapped in the laughable slogan of “fair and balanced.” Even watching the commercials on Fox, one is treated to sales pitches for gold and emergency food rations, the product cornerstones of the paranoid. To some people the idea of retirees yelling at the television all day may seem funny, but this isn’t a joke. We’re losing the nation’s grandparents, and it’s an American tragedy.

People talk about the imminent “death” of Fox News itself, because of an ever-aging demographic. Again, Frank Rich makes this case, but I think his argument is dubious. Certainly the audience is graying to oblivion, but it’s a cold comfort to those of us who watch our parents or grandparents drown in an incessant downpour of outrage. We will only see the “End of Fox News” when my father and his contemporaries die. I do not want to watch my father and his entire generation spend their remaining years enraged at utter nonsense.

[Tikki]

36. She should read the book to her husband. Turn off the TV and read.

She knows him best. Where to put the emphasis. When to start a dialogue.

My husband is not a reader, but he is a great listener.

Tikki

[whatchamacallit]

37. I would so love to chat with him...

I wonder if Bernie could entice back into government?

[benld74]

38. So, the lady was at the airport LEAVING her husband the Faux believer?

[Dont call me Shirley]

43. Good man.