From the "I wish I'd written that" file..

Frank Rich on Cronkite...

If he was the most trusted man in America, it wasn’t because he was a nice guy with an authoritative voice and a lived-in face. It wasn’t because he “loved a good story” or that he removed his glasses when a president died. It was because at a time of epic corruption in the most powerful precincts in Washington, Cronkite was not at the salons and not in the tank.

Lots more. Good stuff.

Hat tip to Gordon.

And that's the way it was...

...just because he said so. Just home from work to hear the news of Walter Cronkite's death at 92. I can't really describe the phenomenon that was Walter Cronkite at the peak of his power to someone who wasn't there to observe and experience it. There's no individual, indeed, there's no instituttion in American live today that commands the air of authority that Cronkite carried for so long. America trusted him, and he fulfilled that trust with integrity on and off the air.

Rest in peace, Uncle Walter.