Business Report Publisher Rolfe McCollister says that when he watches the “news” lately—including reports of Kanye West’s Twitter tirades, Stormy Daniels’ defamation lawsuit against President Donald Trump, and comedian Michelle Wolf’s performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner, among others—he often asks himself: “What the hell is going on? Have people gone nuts with no filters?”
“But before I criticize the actions of these Americans, I should note there are days with news of tweets by President Trump that make me cringe and question in amazement, ‘Did the commander-in-chief really say that?’” McCollister writes in his latest column. “His brash, and sometimes crude, comments may ‘hit back’ and get action, but they coarsen the discourse and lower the bar for both the office and the national conversation. He should set the example.”
That being said, McCollister adds that we all should ask ourselves what these so-called news stories say about our country and culture.
Also in his new column, McCollister says efforts by Rep. Barbara Carpenter, Sen. Regina Barrow and Metro Councilwoman Chauna Banks to ban BREC from moving the Baton Rouge Zoo out of its current location are an “embarrassing spectacle.”
“Fortunately, the Legislature and Metro Council didn’t take their actions seriously and ignored such changes. Sound judgment prevailed,” McCollister writes. “This with BREC and many elected officials was the equivalent of a magic act—in which we all watched the zoo turn into a circus. But maybe they are onto something—a circus would draw more people.”
Read the full column, in which McCollister also celebrates the revitalization of downtown Baton Rouge over the past two decades—as Business Report explores in its new cover package—and congratulates all those who have made it possible.
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