Contact Us

All Things CNN is an independent blog that has no affiliation with CNN.

If you wish to contact us with tips, comments or suggestions our email is allthingscnn@gmail.com.

To contact a specific CNN program please check our CNN programs link at the top of this page.


To contact CNN
click here.

Contributors

All Things CNN
is now on Twitter.
twitter / AllThingsCNN

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Eliot Spitzer Signs Off for the Last Time




Here's a transcript of Spitzer's farewell, including a passage from Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic speech (sometimes referred to as "The Man In The Arena" speech) at the Sorbonne in Paris, France, on April 23, 1910:


SPITZER: That's it for tonight. This is my last program. And I thought the best way to sign off is with a quotation from Theodore Roosevelt. It is, in fact, the passage from which we took the title of the program "IN THE ARENA."

Here it is: It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood which strives valiantly, who errs, who comes up short again and again because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victor nor defeat.

Thanks for watching. Good night from New York.




All content, unless otherwise cited, is © All Things CNN and may not be used without consent of the blog administrator.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eliot was far more interesting and better equipped to handle news than Piers Morgan.
Sadly he had few viewers but he was looking for exposure and that's what CNN gave him.
He will return to politics and become a better person for it.

Phebe said...

A classy sign off for a classy guy.

I questioned CNN's hiring and was sure I wouldn't be a viewer but he won me over with his intelligence and very thought provoking interviews. I'll miss Eliot Spitzer and hope he finds success in whatever he does.

Anonymous said...

I'd rather see Spitzer stay and E.D. Hill go. Spitzer had some issues (an understatement, but he knew politics and was very engaging and intelligent). He threw in a well deserved dig at cable news during his final show. If Fareed Zakaria ever leaves CNN, it'll lose ALL credibility.

Anonymous said...

So why is CNN putting ED Hill on the anchoring
list. Bad idea CNN. Eliot Spitzer was a whole lot
more tolerable than she will ever be. But that is
CNN for you these days. Say the Obamas are
doing a terrorist fist bump and you get a job
at CNN. What is wrong with these people. Your
viewers are not stupid CNN. Wake up.

Anonymous said...

Isn't it funny how everyone was so against him coming to CNN at first and how bad Parker-Spitzer was, but after he went solo In The Arena, he did much better. It is Piers Morgan that needs to go. Make AC360ยบ two hours long from 8PM to 10PM having Isha Sesay take over the second hour, and give Don Lemon the 10PM hour weekdays.

Anonymous said...

@9:57PM:
Isn't it odd that now that Eliot is gone for good, everyone is saying how great he was, which is what I've been saying right along.
But everyone compared him to Moron.
Eliot had style and knew government because he ran a state and a very important state at that.
NO COMPARISON.
Management would never give AC two hours back to back again because he never used the second hour when he had it, unless there was breaking news. And they've already invested too much money and time in Morgan. Over promotion...just like Larry King said.
Isha and Don will not get a fair shake. That's just the way it is.
What should be and is, are two different things.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I expected to see people gloating here that he's gone! Surprisingly just the opposite. Well I REALLY liked him! He's smart as a whip, had great insight into law and politics and came to his own as a journalist. Hard to believe he was only doing it less than a year. All I can say is I enjoyed his show a lot and I love the correspondents he had on with him. It was smart discussions mixed in with todays news. He wasnt trying to be a Glen Beck or Bill O Reilly of the left, just a Democrat who would give his take on things, but didnt berate people over it like those guys.

Yeah his ratings were low so I udnerstand the change up, but I wish he would stay on as a pundit at least like Jeff Toubin or David Gergen. Just pop up on other shows and give his insight where needed. I wonder if that was even discussed? Those seem like good gigs anyway lol. And no pressure to worry if your show is performing or not.

Anyway, he had a good program and it was better than the one with Parker, although I liked her too, but this was clearly a better fit. Be curious to see what happens to him next. Safe to say he's had an interesting two years lol.

Anonymous said...

I don't think CNN should have hired Eliot Spitzer
or Piers Morgan. Both of them should be gone.
CNN created a disaster that did not have to be
for no absolute reason at all. We have all been
saying for quite some time that this would end
badly for CNN. I really don't understand why it
is so hard for Don Lemon to get into prime time
on CNN. His ratings on weekend are not too bad.
There is going to be a backlash against CNN for
keeping Piers Morgan.

Ama B. said...

lolz this all just means that when I get out of college i'll have an easier job getting into CNN. ^___^

CNN, just take the rest of the no-goods off and let me take my spot!

But Don should get a spot, he's one of th best, and people love him.

Anonymous said...

Could there be a small glimmer of hope to get rid of Piers because of the News of the World scandal in England? After all he was the editor there and when the government's investigation is completed maybe his name will be so tarnished that CNN will have to let him go.

According to Wikipedia:
He quickly gained notoriety for his invasive, thrusting style and lack of concern for celebrities' right to privacy, claiming that they could not manipulate the media to further their own ends without accepting the consequences of a two way deal.

Heidi said...

In the Arena was a smart and informative program. It is a real shame that CNN cancelled it. JMO

Anonymous said...

@Heidi: That's the problem.
It WAS cancelled because it was both "smart and informative."
We can't have those kinds of programs on CNN! For shame.
How would it look to the rest of the cablers who aren't smart and informative.
You have to compete!

Anonymous said...

I commend CNN for giving Eliot
Spitzer a chance, it's too bad it
didn't work out because he did a
great job with his great knowledge
and winning smile. I hope we will see him again, good luck Eliot!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous has it right. The problem is that it was smart and informative. That can't seem compete with sensationalism and hype. We have only ourselves to blame. CNN is just responding to the market. It was a great loss for those of us looking for quality news analysis.