By Jonathan Mitchell
Bob Edwards stands in the middle of the cordoned off area on the second floor of Keegan Hall. His wife, Anchorwoman Windsor Johnston, stands at his side. Edwards is quiet and unassuming. His eyes have a faraway look to them as though his mind is elsewhere. Perhaps he is preoccupied with the cancellation of his eponymous show on Sirius XM. Perhaps the Peabody winner is contemplating the stress of finding a new job at the age of 67. The guests gravitate around the legendary radio journalist like clusters of stars orbiting a sun. They sip Cameraderie wine and sample appetizers from Kokopelli Grill as light dapples through the floor to ceiling windows to create a sophisticated tree-house aesthetic.
Edwards made the journey to Peninsula College for the most recent installment of American Conversations. Edwards was the host of NPR’s Morning Edition from its inception in 1975 until his unceremonious reassignment in 2005. He has interviewed thousands of politicians and policy makers.
Following a three-course meal in the Public Union Building, the guests were ushered into the Little Theater. As Edwards approached the microphone, he retrieved a pair of glasses from the breast pocket of his blazer.
As he placed the glasses on his nose a Clark Kent/Superman transformation happened. His milquetoast persona melted away and was replaced by a confident cadence. “It’s so great to be in Washington,” Edwards said about his first trip to the Peninsula, “the Washington that works,” He added with a smile.
Edwards started his speech on the subject of partisanship.
“Each party opposes the other’s ideas even if their own party once advanced that very idea,” Edwards said. “Each of them think it’s not enough to win. Your side has to lose and look bad doing it.”
He then touched on the Supreme Court decision to repeal Citizens United which imposed limitations on campaign funding. The Super PACs that developed soon after allowed candidates to stay in the race long after public support had dried up.
“Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum each had a sugar daddy,” Edwards quipped. “Cynics used to say: we have the best government money can buy. Now we have the government that’s best for the very few who can afford to buy it.”
When Edwards was a senior in high school in 1965 CEOs made 20 times more than their workers.
This figure has increased exponentially over the past 50 years.“CEOs today make 350 times more than the average American worker,” Edwards said.
“A McDonalds employee getting paid overtime would have to work six months to earn what the McDonalds CEO earns in a single hour.”
Edwards further explored the significance of wage disparity, “Oxfam reported that the world’s 85 richest people own the same amount as the bottom half of the entire global population.”
This means that 85 individuals make the same amount of money as half of the human race combined.
Edwards closed out his speech by saying, “This has been my attempt to enlist this Washington in trying to fix what needs to be fixed in that other Washington and I thank you very much,” before returning his glasses to his breast pocket.