Brian Williams and the Tragedy of the Male Ego

Rick Phillips

Like most Americans, I was astonished by the brazen and inept lies told by NBC anchorman Brian Williams about his faux exploits while covering the war in Iraq.  Moreover, I find his precipitous fall (which surely is accelerating even as I write) to be sadly instructive about men in general and the male ego in particular.  Here we have a man who perched virtually at the pinnacle of alpha-dogness as measured on a global scale.  Suave, handsome, wealthy, and admired by legions.  What more could any man need?  The answer, it seems, is "a whole lot more."