MMFSittoo

Retired from lawyering, professoring, and non-profit(ing). Obsessed with family, social justice, and hockey. she/her

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@shannonrwatts @therapyworksBC 😂

[Dylan Byers @DylanByers]

New statement from Scott Pelley:

There has never been anything in America like 60 Minutes.

The Sunday tradition is the most successful program of any kind in history. For more than a decade, its innovative growth on every major online platform has extended its reach to countless millions around the world. This spring, at the end of our 58thseason, 60 Minutes grew rapidly with an unheard-of 9% jump in viewers on CBS.

“60” has been the number-one program in America for decades because our beloved audience finds integrity, quality, and humanity in our stories. When stewardship of the program passed to my colleagues and me, our responsibility was to expand energetically into a new age of media technology while preserving the values our audience expects. Now, the new owner of our network is casting this legend aside, apparently to curry a moment of favor with the Trump administration.

The waste is heartbreaking.

Last month, 60 Minutes lost its DNA when our entire senior leadership and two of our best on-air correspondents were cruelly fired without cause. Good people were silenced because they stood up for our audience. They stood for fairness against the forces of political bias; they stood for professionalism against chaos.

For my part, new management has instructed me to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. I’ve been told to include assertions that are unverified. To date, in every case, I have managed to ignore these instructions or refuse them. Recently, politicians have been invited to choose correspondents for interviews on the broadcast. Giving politicians control over 60 Minutes interviews is not how this is done. Finally, incompetence and unprofessionalism in the new management have wreaked havoc. In a case involving one of my stories, the entire program came within 19 minutes of not getting on the air at all.

At 60 Minutes, we have fought harder than anyone knows to save the program that became an American icon. We owed that to our millions of viewers. I am deeply moved by the thousands of wishes we have received to “keep up the good fight.” Most of the men and women of CBS News are still in that fight. But now the collapse of values at the top has become untenable. The leadership of 60 Minutes is no longer recognizable. The principles I hold dear are gone, and so I must leave as well.

I depart after 37 years at CBS with one emotion—a heart brimming with gratitude for the men and women of CBS News who encouraged and enriched my work, very often at the risk of their own lives. I pray for a day when those people and their ideals are honored again—a day when sanity, competence, and courage return.

Scott Pelley

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@smerconish “playing the madman card” is a helluva way to describe this President. Might have said the same thing about Hitler who executed his genocidal plan with ruthless efficiency after his advisors “aired their views.” Do I think Trump is a madman? No. I think he is evil.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@beth_machlan Same

[David Axelrod @davidaxelrod]

No American leader has so consistently and thoroughly embarrassed himself and our country on the global stage. (Which may be why the majority of world leaders are absent from today's exercise in self-exaltation.)

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@davidaxelrod This is such an embarrassing time for the US. Who thinks this is normal or even sane? Like he’s emceeing some sort of rat pack roast.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

Preach Sir Ian…

[Tolkien World @TolkienWorldG]

Sir Ian McKellen at 86 expertly reciting Shakespeare last night!

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@Acyn 😂

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@SenatorCollins Your “concerns” are too little, too late. As usual.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@shannonrwatts Bravo Sir. Hopefully fellow members of the GOP will take a lesson from your courage.

[Governor Janet Mills @GovJanetMills]

In response to Federal agents killing another person in Minnesota, I have requested a meeting with the President of the United States and demanded that his Administration immediately withdraw ICE agents from Maine. My statement:

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@kaitlancollins Shocker. Has he ever been right about anything?

[Barack Obama @BarackObama]

The killing of Alex Pretti is a heartbreaking tragedy. It should also be a wake-up call to every American, regardless of party, that many of our core values as a nation are increasingly under assault.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@JudiciaryGOP @Jim_Jordan 😂😂😂

[Tom Nichols @RadioFreeTom]

No one can be watching this Davos speech and reach any conclusion but that the President of the United States is mentally disturbed and that something is deeply wrong with him. This is both embarrassing and extremely dangerous.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@CNN He is certifiable. What a disgrace.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@Martina @BBCBreaking @morgfair So embarrassed that he is the President of our country. What a buffoon.

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

Well said Governor!

[Governor Janet Mills @GovJanetMills]

My statement on speculation that the Federal government may conduct Federal law enforcement operations in Maine in the coming days

[MMFSittoo @Mmfsittoo]

@RickCarpiniello 😂

[Senator Mark Kelly @SenMarkKelly]

When I was 22 years old, I commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy and swore an oath to the Constitution. I upheld that oath through flight school, multiple deployments on the USS Midway, 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm, test pilot school, four space shuttle flights at NASA, and every day since I retired – which I did after my wife Gabby was shot in the head while serving her constituents.

In combat, I had a missile blow up next to my jet and flew through anti-aircraft fire to drop bombs on enemy targets. At NASA, I launched on a rocket, commanded the space shuttle, and was part of the recovery mission that brought home the bodies of my astronaut classmates who died on Columbia. I did all of this in service to this country that I love and has given me so much.

Secretary Hegseth’s tweet is the first I heard of this. I also saw the President’s posts saying I should be arrested, hanged, and put to death.

If this is meant to intimidate me and other members of Congress from doing our jobs and holding this administration accountable, it won’t work. I’ve given too much to this country to be silenced by bullies who care more about their own power than protecting the Constitution.