"The time has come for congressional action" Lee Levine

Today's quotation from yesterday's House Judiciary Committee hearing on the "Free Flow Information Act of 2007" (HR 2102). The bill provides "qualified immunity to journalists from revealing their sources under certain circumstances." This is the federal "media shield" legislation. William Safire was also on yesterday's panel. Video webcast replay is available here.

Your duke, Dave Sholin (pictured), will soon be back on the radio in the bay area. Word is he's been signed by CBS to host the breakfast show on KFRC. Smart. The debrouillard is, no doubt, programming ace Mike Preston. Congrats to the Duke and to Mike; my thanks to Joel Denver for the 1978 photo.

"Debrouillard is what every plongeur wants to be called. A debrouillard is a man who, even when he is told to do the impossible, will se debrouiller - get it done somehow."
George Orwell

"He was a master of the short cut, the easy way out, the System D. D stands for de as in debrouiller or demerder - to extricate...and to a hair (he) knew how to stay out of trouble." Nicholas Freeling

System D is the opening chapter of the most recent Anthony Bourdain writing - The Nasty Bits. He writes...

"Whether familiar with the term or not, I have always assigned great value to debrouillards, and at various times in my career, particularly when I was a line cook, I have taken great pride in being one. The ability to think fast, to adapt, to improvise when in danger of falling "in the weeds" or dans la merde, even if a little corner-cutting is required, has been a point of pride with me for years."

"...even one heroic practitioner of System D can save the day, step in and turn the tide. One guy can make the difference between another successful Saturday night and total chaos."

System D is alive and well in media a game where one person can make a significant difference, one person can turn around a situation. A talent, an EP, a show runner, a programmer, there are times when all it takes is one person to make a difference. But you need that one person. That's the part that some folks don't get. MSNBC needs that one person. CNBC needs that one person. CNN needs that one person. FreeFM needs that one person. The first time I met Les Moonves I knew he was the person that would fix the network, he's got entertainment down cold and you can sense it. In some situations what you need is a gun and nothing short of engaging one of the best and brightest will deliver the needed remedy. Look for and hire the tie breakers, the play makers, the game-changing champions. Hiring the one right person beats hiring five or ten of the wrong people and that happens to be true only 100% of the time. Get your System D person on board and start winning.

Today's image is from Tisvet, via the Isthmus Pool at Flickr. My thanks to Tisvet! Another beautiful summer here in Madison.