MUSHING THE ICE CREAM

Consider a dish of rainbow ice cream. There it sits -- in all its splendid traditional distinctions among the vanilla, strawberry and chocolate. Put a kid into it with a hungry spoon and the distinctions are quickly lost in happy stirring and slurping.

Maybe it's that way with some countries.

The older the country, the more distinct its traditions. Conversely, the younger the country -- like the United States, Canada and Australia -- the more tradition has to share equal time with the future. Here, ambitious change is just as important as reverent preservation.

Enter this year's Broadway Tony Awards. At one time the tradition was a proud distinction between the worlds of the stage and of Hollywood. Not anymore...! In recent years it's hard to tell the difference. Hollywood stars and studios along with rock concert celebrities have invaded the pristine venue of the theatre. Disney producers are transforming movie to musical; luminaries like Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson, Jude Law, and Katie Holmes are trodding the boards; and musical legends, living and dead, like Bon Jovi, Johnny Cash and Elvis are becoming the stories.

This melting of the old traditional distinctions has been almost a way of life here ever since WWII. Almost anyone can now lease a luxury car, buy a backyard pool, take a cruise on the Caribbean, visit a 4-star restaurant, and wear rip-off Paris fashions. This melting of traditional distinctions is even rampant in politics where it's hard lately to tell the difference between an official and a reporter. They attend the same black-tie dinners, participate in some of the same conferences, and are forever talking to one another supposedly off-the-record.

This is why reporters today tell us what the President is going to tell us 24 hours before he gets the chance to tell us. Now that's one tradition some of us miss! For example, when FDR gathered us before our radio sets for one of his "fireside chats," there was no Rush Limbaugh, Rachel Maddow or James Carville to breathlessly inform us as did the New York Times this morning: "Obama plans Oval Office address in attempt to project presidential strength in Gulf Crisis." Almost like the flight attendant whispering to us just before take-off: "Our pilot is a little new at this, so just remember he's doing his best!"

Maybe it would still be better to let Broadway be Broadway...Hollywood be Hollywood...and the President be the only one giving a presidential address.