John Stossel

John Stossel: For those of you who don't know who he is, John Stossel used to be one of the reporters on 20/20.  He evidently didn't get along so well with ABC.  Mainly it appears because he wanted to produce show that questioned things like the idea that the government knows what it's doing.  Despite his shows getting great ratings eventually it became clear ABC was going to fire him and so he quit and now works for FOX.  And while FOX doesn't necessarily agree with the things he says either, they don't mind the people who work for them having and expressing such things.*  He's a devoted Libertarian** and is outspoken on lots of topics.  And while I don't necessarily agree with all of his viewpoints and opinions, I do like his shows and interview style and truth be told, I do agree with quite a few of his viewpoints and opinions.  I recently had the pleasure of meeting him in person.  My main concern with this was the following.  You read books by people or you see them on TV or in movies and you start to feel like maybe you know them or at least you have a sense of who they are.  And then you meet those people and they turn out to be big jerks.  Suddenly all of the things by them or containing them that you had previously liked are suddenly tainted.  The goodness of the book/movie/show suddenly ruined by the jerkiness of the author/actor.***  It's for this reason alone that the Pook often will refuse to go to venues and meet such famous/semi-famous people.  Well, I'm glad to report this is not the case with Mr. Stossel.  He was every bit as nice as you would expect from his shows and interviews.  In addition to that, he generously gives away a lot of free material to teachers to use in their classrooms.  Which gives him bonus points in my book.

John Stossel: A

* - Especially when it makes them money.
** - People who want as little government as possible in all aspects of life.
*** - As an example of that, I once met the author Robert Jordan and he turned out to be a bit of a turd.  In his defense maybe he was having a bad day or something, but it definitely soured me on him.