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Townhall
In Praise of
Mediocrity
Steve Chapman
Feb 15, 2015
I rise today to speak in praise of an underappreciated attribute:
mediocrity.
Oh, I can hear the comments already: "Who better to do it?" "Finally,
something you're an expert on." "You should only hope to achieve
mediocrity!" But I will not be deterred.
As kids, we are always told to admire those who are the best at
anything and to strive to attain the highest level in whatever we do.
But a flurry of scandals suggest the world would be better off if more
people would settle for being adequate.
Brian Williams was more than adequate at the only things required of
him: looking good in a suit and reading the news without belching.
Plenty of local anchors have enjoyed decades of minor celebrity and
outsized pay with these capabilities alone. Williams had achieved
national celebrity.
But he was not content with being the star of the No. 1-rated TV
newscast in America, or with someday retiring as a legend in the
category of Walter Cronkite and David Brinkley. No, he had to break out
of the sober-sided anchorman persona in hopes of becoming a rock star.
It's fairly easy to enthrall an audience with stories if you are not
bound by the requirement that the stories be true. You'd certainly love
hearing about the time I rappelled down Mt. Rushmore to rescue Taylor
Swift from a grizzly bear and then amused her with my a cappella
rendition of "I Knew You Were Trouble."
Kissing the Blarney stone is no crime if you're an ordinary jamoke who
spins his colorful anecdotes at the corner bar. But when your central
function is giving people factual information about important events,
fanciful reminiscing is bound to eventually become a serious
liability...
Read the rest of the article at Townhall
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