Christmas Confessions Part 1

OK, I will admit it. I have a bit of a crush on Brian Williams. You know, the news guy? On NBC nightly news? Yeah, him.

For years, when it came to news, Dan Rather was my man. He had anchored the CBS evening news for years, since my childhood really, prior to his unceremonious early “retirement” (ie “dumping”) and complete journalistic disgrace. I loved Dan Rather, not in a puppy love kind of way, but in a comforting, he-knows-what-he's-talking-about kind of way. Like a dad who always knows the right thing to say and the right way to say it. His voice even comforted me, so sure and steady in the worst of environments, and the way that Texas accent, ever so slight, would get stronger after he'd been on the air for long periods of time. Like during the 2000 election coverage.

I remember his coverage of pivital events during my life. Like seeing him in that khaki jacket in Tiananmen Square covering the protest or interviewing Saddam Hussein. Or the shouting match with Bush 1, which I must admit only made me love him more. Dan Rather was a real, true reporter's reporter. Which is, perhaps, what finally was his undoing behind the anchor desk. But I digress.

When Katie Couric was chosen to replace Rather behind the anchor desk, I was extremely torn. Torn between what I feel is my responsibility as a woman to be happy for women who break barriers, and my all consuming dislike of Katie Couric. I can't stand that perky b*tch. If we lived in a world where I had an arch enemy? She would be mine.

I wanted a female anchor, don't get me wrong. But I wanted one who was actually, I don't know, a hard core news reporter. Like Diane Sawyer for instance. Or maybe Ann Curry? What's wrong with Ann? Just because she has dark hair shouldn't disqualify her. Once I heard that Katie Couric had the job, even my hopes of looking at John Roberts or Russ Mitchell every night dashed, I gave up.

I have honestly never understood the country's fascination with Katie, or Matt Lauer for that matter. It didn't help that in my early 20's I was compared to Couric. A lot. Which is strange since I look nothing like her, and wasn't especially perky. But I had a short haircut similar to hers which always seemed to invite the comparison. And I liked to laugh which make some people think you're perky, I guess. (I'm laughing at you NOT with you) But I still don't like her. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Her husband died. So did a lot of other women's husbands that year. Yeah, yeah, she's a single mom. So what? So are a lot of other women. And they don't make millions of dollars every year.) So when she took over the anchor desk at CBS, with that grating, annoying voice and those freakish chiclet teeth, I just had to find an alternative news source.

But everything changed one fateful Saturday when I saw an appearance that Brian Williams made on Saturday Night Live. I really hadn't thought anything of him other than being a button down news man. But I watched anyway, fully realizing this was intended to boost their ratings. I was charmed by Williams' affability, his normalcy, his apparent ability to make fun of himself and just go out there to have fun. I was a gonner, I couldn't not like him, he was so likeable. He actually made me laugh. And he was so cute in those skits. And he looks good in jeans. Today I saw him in a Today Show viral video that they did to a Black Eyed Peas song, and I can't imagine Dan Rather dancing around in jeans and a sweater wearing an “Anchor” sign on his shirt.

Who wouldn't have a crush on Brian Williams? I just heart him. But don't tell my husband.