RIP: Aaron Brown

I'm not quite certain this story is up to coverage by the Reasonable Nuts. However, given CNN's (let's say) unique outlook on things newsworthy and its penchant (second only to the New York Times) for becoming a news item itself, it is noteworthy that its onetime lead anchor, Aaron Brown, is leaving the network and being replaced by (rumored) automaton, Anderson Cooper.

Cooper, 38, has been gathering momentum all year that peaked with his on-the-scene coverage of Hurricane Katrina, Klein said.

"He's got a refreshing way of being the anti-anchor," he said. "He's not quote-unquote reporting at you. He's just being himself. He's asking the questions you would like answered. He's getting involved the way you might. You feel that he's a regular person that you can trust talking to you. He brings such a passion to the storytelling that's infectious."

Infectious like the Avian Flu, which he will no doubt be covering from a within a poultry farm in North Carolina once the strain makes its way here. Good luck, Andy.

As I did a little research, I discovered Cooper's mother is Gloria Vanderbilt. I'm not sure what it matters, but his brother commited suicide at age 23. Perhaps he was gay as well, but could not endure the pressure. Why is this worthy of speculation? Perhaps it is not. But it had to shape the man who is shaping CNN and the opinions of the 3 or 4 people who still watch the dinosaur.