America & Its Principles: Which Ones Are Worth "Doing a Pelley?"

Principles, institutional and individual, have ballooned into a big issue. A very sticky one. 

Paul, Weiss' decision to cut a deal with the Trump administration to lift an Executive Office in March 2025 rocked the legal sector. It continues to throw shade on the reputation of that law firm. The leader who symbolizes it - Brad Karp - hasn't been able to defend it effectively. That's despite his being a skilled defense lawyer. 

And now we have this further development. It's rocking media. And at a time when media itself in being judged harshly. Or simply being blown off as irrelevant. 

At CBS, Scott Pelley decided to stand up for what he determined was the editorial integrity of "60 Minutes." No newbie in corporate he had to know he risked being fired for cause. And that he was. 

The more than 1,300 comments to The Wall Street Journal coverage of that drama indicate a broad range of opinion about the stance which Pelley took.

Of course, out there, to some Pelley represents a hero among the working class. Isn't that everyone's fantasy to tell off the new leader. And have that described in legacy media and social. Not just the internal grapevines.

To others it's a move that finished him professionally. The rest of his career runway could be restricted to trying to break into the glutted territory of podcasts, newsletters like Substack and Ghost and/or Ted Talks. Had he handled this matter of principle differently he might have held on to a glam status into his late 90s, like Clint Eastwood. 

And then there are those who skip assessing what Pelley did - after all he could have simply backed away as had Anderson Cooper - and shrug that "60 Minutes" isn't worth fighting for. It's even being labeled a "dino." When's the last time you locked viewing it into your schedule? For me it was the analysis of law firms' negotiations about the EO. Powerful Skadden got hammered. That was because I have had a number of clients in the legal sector. Before that I hadn't bothered with "60 Minutes" or television for years.

Back when John F. Kennedy published "Profiles in Courage," values in America were homogenized. There was a hardened sense of what was right and what was wrong. Ironically though, Kennedy opened the door to a breakdown of those absolutes when he passed the torch to a new generation. That was us Boomers. The Generation Gap blew up mores. So did the technology of The Pill. A niche in that paradigm shift was the counterculture. 

And here we are in a universal fragmentation of not only right and wrong but also smart and not-smart for earning a good living. Meanwhile, Pelley is out of a job. That we do agree on. In coaching, I help those concerned about their livelihood how to assess risks to the need to bring in a paycheck. 

Careers? So Over. It’s about Earning a Good Living. No matter what.

Complimentary consultation. No Pressure. Street-smart Guidance. Contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.


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