All Blog Posts from Public Eye

"It was a dumb thing he said I don't think it was vicious and he genuinely wishes he hadn't said it. It was really stupid of him to say, but I can't condemn him…I would go back [on the show] if he asked me -- sure -- but I hope he doesn't ask me."

--Andy Rooney, speaking about Don Imus' radio program in the Sun-Sentinel.

Big News from the Associated Press: Andy Rooney is not a bigot. As the AP notes, a commentary supposedly written by Rooney that includes "anti-minority statements" has been floating around the Internet. Rooney didn't write the commentary, and he doesn't like that it's been attributed to him. "I suppose it's not important, but I hate the fact that people think I've been writing these things," Rooney told the AP. "That's hurtful to me."

Fair enough. Here's the odd thing about the story, though: These fake Rooney commentaries have been around forever, and they've been known to be fake for almost as long. Witness this entry on Snopes, a site that debunks urban legends, which notes that the alleged Rooney commentary is false. Then there's this piece from April 10th in TV Week, in which Rooney complained about a false commentary on older women that has been emailed around. (He calls it "embarrassing" and "infuriating.") Most important, however, is this: A real Rooney commentary from the Oct. 23, 2005 edition of "60 Minutes." Here's Andy:

A lot of people have written to ask if I really wrote some things on the Internet that have my name on them. The answer, briefly, is no I didn’t.

A saccharine collection of comments called ‘ANDY ROONEY ON OLDER WOMEN’ has had wide circulation. I was pleased by how many people wrote to say they didn't believe I wrote it.

There's a collection of racist and sexist remarks on the Internet under a picture of me with the caption ‘ANDY ROONEY SAID ON 60 MINUTES.’ If I could find the person who did write it using my name I would sue him.

Seeing as Rooney debunked these false commentaries over a year ago, in front of a nationally televised audience, it is curious that the AP felt that this was a worthwhile story today. Maybe what with Kramergate, as well as another race-related scandal, this one involving a different famous Andy, someone felt that the time was right to trot out this small piece of non-news. In any event: Andy Rooney, still not a bigot. Tell the kids.

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We may have retired our "What Was Andy Thinking" feature, but Mr. Rooney continues to hold our interest. On last night's "60 Minutes," Rooney delivered what was perhaps the Platonic ideal of a Rooney segment. Click the box to watch – you won't regret it. You can also check out the excerpt below, which we submit encapsulates Rooney at his most delightfully Rooneyesque:

"Downtown has gone out of style in a lot of American cities. It's moved to the outskirts of town.

I've been to Des Moines, Iowa several times. I don’t know why they put "Des" in front of 'Moines.' They call it 'DE MOINES.' 'Moines' means 'monks' in French.

A lot of interesting city names begin with T. Tacoma, Tucson, Tulsa, Tuscaloosa, Terre Haute, Toledo, Topeka.

I only like to go to cities I've been to before so I'll probably never get to Fargo, North Dakota."

One side note from last night's segment: At one point, Rooney said that he didn't know Pittsburgh is "on an island, like New York City." As it turns out, that's not exactly true – as you can see from this map, while the city is surrounded by rivers on three sides, it's no island.

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Last week we brought you the inaugural post in our new feature "What Was Andy Thinking?" As promised, we're going in no particular order, and we're going to follow last year's 1994 entry with one focused on 2000. Below you'll find Andy Rooney's commentary topics in the year of the contested election, Elián González's seizure by federal agents in Miami, the USS Cole bombing in Yemen, and the deciphering of the human genome. Enjoy. (OAD means original air date.)

01/02/00: "2000" - Andy is optimistic about the future

01/09/00: "Movie Reviews" - film critics

01/16/00: "The Moral Of The Story" - what really happens

01/23/00: "Symbols" - Andy doesn't think the Confederate flag should be flown over the capitol of South Carolina

01/30/00: "Car Ads" - unrealistic scenes in commercials (OAD: 10/26/97)

02/06/00: "Inventions" - 10 best unimportant inventions

02/13/00: "All This Spare Change" - the new `golden dollar' coin

02/20/00: "The Presidential Press Conference" - how presidents have avoided answering questions

02/27/00: "Andy Rates the Candidates" - ratings for the presidential candidates

03/05/00: "Andy's Mail" - why he doesn't answer much of it

03/19/00: "The Man Who Would Be President" - Andy criticizes the primary election process

03/26/00: "Census 2000" - Andy fills out the census form

04/02/00: The 10 Commandments

04/09/00: "Wrestling" - Andy wonders why something so fake can be so popular

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For the past few years, a column falsely attributed to Andy Rooney called "Why Older Chicks Rule" has been showing up in the nation's inboxes. "It's embarrassing. It's infuriating," Rooney told TV Week. Well, in the interest of starting to correct the historical record, we've decided to institute a new feature, "What Was Andy Thinking?" The concept is simple: We print a year's worth of Rooney commentary topics. We're kicking things off with 1994, and we won't be going in any particular order. Below you'll find what Andy was thinking about the year of Newt Gingrich's "Contract With America," the Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga, OJ fleeing in the white Bronco, and Nelson Mandela's inauguration as South Africa's president. Enjoy. (OAD means original air date.)

01/02/94: "Classified Ads" - language in newspaper ads

01/09/94: "Television Magazine Shows" - not enough good stories to go around

01/16/94: "Ex-Presidents" - rating former U.S. Presidents

01/23/94 "Roman Numerals" - refresher course on Roman numerals

01/30/94: "Food Pictures" - food products don't look like the pictures on the box (pancake mix, cereals etc.) (OAD: 12/4/88)

02/06/94: "Sports and Money" - sports places too much emphasis on money

02/13/94: "Byron De La Beckwith" - the idea that only blacks were happy about the conviction of Byron De La Beckwith

02/20/94: "Japanese Trade Wars" - why doesn't the U.S. stop buying Japanese products until they start buying ours?

02/27/94: "The Spy Game" - what the CIA isn't telling us about spies

03/06/94: "Serious vs. Funny" - people have complained that Andy is too serious

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The Drudge Report today is featuring some comments made by CBS’ Andy Rooney on the “Imus” program this morning and it's getting some traction in the blogosphere. Here’s the one sentence that Drudge puts on his site:

“I have a problem with the term African American ... The word negro is a perfectly good word. There is nothing wrong with that.”

That happens to be an incorrect quote, one that serves Drudge’s need for hype.



I guess the implication is that Rooney made some controversial or politically-incorrect comments about race. While it’s probably not beyond Rooney’s candor and style to do that, I think this exchange is far more benign than what Drudge would have you think. The discussion began as host Don Imus was referencing a frequent guest, Congressman Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) and noted that Ford is African-American. Here’s the transcript:

Rooney: “I object every time I hear the words ‘African-American,’ you know? I don’t know why we have gotten caught with that.”



Imus: “Yeah, I don’t either.”



Rooney: “I mean, am I an ‘Irish-American?’”



Imus: “What should I say, just ‘black’ right?”



Rooney: “Well, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with ‘black.’ Growing up, it’s funny how words get to be opprobrious. The word ‘negro,’ perfectly good word. It’s a strong word and a good word. I don’t see anything wrong with that. Mostly it’s not necessary to identify anyone by skin color. But I don’t care for ‘African-American.’”



Imus: “I won’t use it anymore.”

Drudge makes no comments, simply leaves snippets of the exchange hanging out there at the top of the page to give his many visitors an inaccurate impression of Rooney’s meaning. You may disagree with Rooney’s thinking on the issue but it’s a legitimate point of discussion. It’s not like the issue of hyphenated Americans has never come up before. And if you listened to the exchange, it’s clear that Rooney was speaking respectfully.



His use of the word “negro” is what is striking many the wrong way, but he’s arguing for the strength of the word and remarking on the negative connotation it carries. He’s not advocating its return to the American lexicon.

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This week's "10 Plus 1" subject is Andy Rooney, who is now in his 27th season doing "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" on "60 Minutes." Rooney has a list of accomplishments too long to do service to here, but a few of the highlights are the national newspaper column he's written for Tribune Media Services since 1979, his 13 books, three Emmy Awards (plus a Lifetime Achievement Emmy), and his Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.



So, what do you do for a living?

I am a writer. I write for a living.

What is not being covered enough at CBS News?

The news is not being reported in any comprehensive way by CBS News. The world cannot be covered in a very short half hour.

What’s the strangest thing that has ever happened to you on the job?

I got fired.

If you had 10 broken fingers and no gas in the car, which colleague would you want to be there?

All the other "60 Minutes" correspondents use a car service so I'd call one of them for the number. I'd use a pencil clutched in my palm instead of a broken finger to dial. I have never used a car service or run out of gas and do not anticipate either happening.

If you were not in news, what would you be doing?

I'd probably be out of work. I do a lot of woodworking, making furniture, but I'm not really good enough to make a living at it. I couldn't build a house because I don't do plumbing or electrical work. I wouldn't be a bank clerk, a toll collector, a school crossing guard, a White House press secretary.

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You have just a few more minutes (well, a few more hours, actually) to send in your questions for Andy Rooney, who kindly agreed to participate in this week's "10 plus 1." As always, we'll be asking Andy 10 questions of our own and one that comes from you. So email in your questions or post them in comments below.

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This week we talk to Andy Rooney, who is now in his 27th season doing "A Few Minutes With Andy Rooney" on "60 Minutes." Rooney, who considers himself a writer who appears on television, has a list of accomplishments too long to do service to here, but a few of the highlights are the national newspaper column he's written for Tribune Media Services since 1979, the 13 books he's written, his three Emmy Awards for his essays in addition to a Lifetime Achievement Emmy, and his Ernie Pyle Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.



Rooney joined CBS in 1949 as a writer for "Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Scouts," which became the number one show in 1952, and eventually went on to closely collaborate on "60 Minutes" with the late Harry Reasoner. You may think you know Andy from his essays – which now number more than 800 – but we think there are still a few stones left unturned. So send in your questions, and we'll pick one and get his thoughts. Just stay away from the topic of bottled water – he's already got that one pretty well covered.

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