My mission statement 🚀

And what makes ME different.

This is a really important post to me — and for me. I hope it makes you think. I hope it spurs you to action. I hope it brightens your day. And thanks as always for your support and encouragement. 🙌

Over the weekend, me and the fam watched the movie “Jerry Maguire.”

On re-watch, at age 48, it’s super cheesy — especially the “you complete me” scene. Brutal.

But, it was the start of the movie that spoke to me most. In case you forgot, Jerry (played by Tom Cruise) is a sports super agent. He decides one night that the way he does business is all wrong — that it’s superficial and small and awful. And so, he writes a mission statement designed to remake the industry.

It’s a vision of what talent agencies could be and should be. And it goes over like a lead balloon. He gets fired — and is left with just one client (Rod Tidwell, played by Cuba Gooding Jr.). But, in the end, the goodness and rightness of his vision pays off. He lives happily ever after — with Renee Zellweger and her son, Ray. (“The human head weighs eight pounds.”)

Here’s the mission statement scene:

Which got me to thinking: I need a mission statement of my own. I need to define:

a) why I do this

b) why this newsletter is different than all the other stuff out there

c) why you should spend your hard-earned dollars supporting it (and me)

And, since I work for myself, I don’t need to worry about being fired or laid off for writing it!

So, here it goes. This is MY mission statement. I hope you read to the end and, when you do, you are convinced that this is a project worth supporting. If you want to jump on board before reading any of it, I’d love to have you!

Why I do this

When CNN laid me off in late 2022, I didn’t have to work for a while because I was getting paid under the terms of my contract.

And, for the first few months after it happened, I didn’t do much of anything! I was in shock. I had no idea what to do. I just sort of, well, vegged out.

Which wasn’t terrible!

But, by January of 2023, I missed it. And “it” for me was writing, thinking and talking about politics every day. Yes, I had always done it because someone was paying me to do it before. What was clear to me though was I wanted to do it even if no one paid me for it.

See, writing is the way I organize my world. It’s how I make things make sense to me. That goes for politics, yes, but also for my own internal life. Writing it down forces me to deal with issues — to sort through them, to turn them over, to understand more about myself and the world.

The truth is that starting this Substack was, fundamentally, a selfish act. I was reeling. I needed a way to put my world back in order. And turning to writing was the way I could do it.

But it also exposed a deeper truth: I needed to write and talk about politics — and my life. I had no expectation that it would become a genuine income stream for me. I wasn’t one of those people who plotted 10 steps to make my Substack successful. To this day I have never paid for any sort of promotion or advertising for it. I have relied on word of mouth, with a hint of my own social media self-promotion.

And it grew! And as it grew I realized a few things: a) It was helping to keep me sane to write not just about politics but also about my life as a laid-off journalist, a husband, a dad and a guy just trying to make it in the world b) I was building a community of people who could talk, civilly, about politics online and c) It was something I really wanted to keep doing — no matter where the rest of my professional life carried me.

Which brings us to now. The election is 182 days away. My goal over the next six months is to serve as your guide through the noise and nonsense of the election. I will be writing every single day — usually more than once a day — as I seek to help you understand our political world.

This is, for me, still a passion project. I do it because I believe in the power of writing and thinking about our world as a way to better understand it. And I think that never before — not an exaggeration, to borrow a pet phrase of Joe Biden — have we seen the pillars of society that we take for granted (a free and independent media, free and fair elections, objective truth) under so much duress.

Which makes this work even more important. And which leads me to…

Why this newsletter is different than all the other stuff out there

You have a WHOLE lot of options when it comes to a) what you read/watch and b) what you pay for.

On Substack. On the political Internet more broadly. On cable TV. Everywhere.

Here’s why I am different — and, I think, why you should dole out the $6 a month (or $60 for the year) to pay for my Substack.

I spent the last 30 years in mainstream media — from Roll Call to the Washington Post to CNN. I was a part of that inner circle. I know how politicians and the press — at the highest levels — think and operate. I know what motivates them. I know who they like and, well, who they don’t.

(Sidebar: The best way I know to think about politics — and especially Congress — is like high school. There are cliques. Rivalries. Long simmering feuds. Ambition. Ego. Insecurity. All that good stuff.)

So, I know all of that. But I am also someone who isn’t beholden to, well, anyone anymore. The only goal I have every day is to write and talk about things that make the political world clearer for you all — my readers.

I can be blunt. I can be honest. And I can tell you the real scoop.

Here’s what I can promise you if you subscribe to this newsletter:

• I will hold politicians to account when they lie, when they obfuscate or when they try to play too cute with their words or their actions

• I will be tough but fair on Donald Trump

• I will be tough but fair on Joe Biden

• I will not conclude that something is good solely because Democrats do it or something is bad solely because Republicans do it. Or vice versa.

• I will never write things for clicks or to add subscribers who want red meat thrown at them

• I will always show my work and how I got to my conclusions

• I will admit when I got it wrong — and explain how and why it happened

• I will never talk down to you or assume I know better

• I will always work to foster kindness and civility in our community

What you will find in this newsletter is content that makes you smarter. I am not going to write about how Donald Trump or Joe Biden has dementia. (They don’t). I am not going to write about whether Trump or Biden shit their pants. (They haven’t.)

I get that that sort of content works — on Substack and everywhere else in the political-media landscape. People love to hate the other guy. And to think the absolute worst about him.

But that’s not me. I couldn’t do it even if I wanted to. Why not? Because it coarsens us. It makes our discourse worse. It makes us worse.

Which doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel good in the moment! It’s an adrenaline shot for sure! But, that high wears off —quickly. And what we’re left with is the same old problems.

I want to be a force for good in this (political) world. It’s my belief that the path back to some semblance of normalcy is through objectivity and transparency.

I really and truly believe that. I want to be a light that shines through the darkness in which we find ourselves. I believe, deeply, that only by elevating voices who will always speak truth — and back it up with facts — are we ever going to find our way out of this mess. I believe I can be that person for you.

Why you should spend your hard-earned dollars supporting “So What” (and me)

The hardest thing in the world of journalism is getting people to pay for it.

My working theory is that way back in the early days of the Internet we made a fundamental mistake in not charging people for the content.

I liken it to this: If your company had a barista who made lattes and all other sorts of coffee drinks for free every morning for a year and then, suddenly, the company said every drink would cost a dollar, you’d probably balk.

But we got this for free, you’d say! Never mind that $1 for, say, a caramel latte is WAY cheaper than you could get it anywhere else!

Journalism was dumb in that regard — and I think we are all (from big publications like CNN and WaPo all the way down to little old me) paying the price (ahem) for it.

But, here’s the thing: If you believe in journalism, you need to change that mindset. You need to understand that behind the content you consume is a person. And that person has bills just like you.

This is what I do for a living. I write. I talk. I make videos. I try to make the political world more understandable for you. But, I can’t do it without you investing in me — literally.

But, I also know — per my point above — that you have LOTS of options when it comes to content. So, I want to make sure you are getting your money’s worth when you decide to become a paid subscriber to “So What.”

With that in mind, I am rolling out a TON of new features for paid subscribers only. They include:

1. A 30-minute personal Zoom call

One of the things I have thought about — and even planned for — was to do a monthly Zoom call for paid subscribers. I had seen other Substacks do that successfully (like The Bulwark) and thought it made sense to try it.

But, I’ve re-thought that. I do a livestream every Friday on my YouTube channel where you (or anyone) can ask me questions. For free. So, a monthly Zoom for people who are paying for my newsletter didn’t feel special enough to me.

Instead, here’s what I am proposing: Anyone who is a paid subscriber gets one 30-minute one-on-one Zoom call with me. We can talk about anything you want.

If you become a paid subscriber today, you will get a Calendly link from me. Just click it and book your time!

2. Podcast

I spent a lot of time considering what sort of podcast I wanted to do. But, I finally came on an idea that, well, rocks. So, drumroll please….

The podcast will be called “Name Your Mount Rushmore!” — and I am going to be doing it with a longtime friend and a familiar voice to many of you….stay tuned for the big reveal!

The idea is simple: Every week we will pick a subject — candy, political slogans, ‘80s hair-metal bands — and debate who makes our personal Mount Rushmore in that category. In case you aren’t, um, familiar, with Mount Rushmore — it means we are limited to only a top four in every discussion. (Or maybe five if we can squeeze Donald Trump’s head in there!)

There will be VERY little politics on it. It will be fun. I can promise you those two things.

The podcast will be a part of the broader “So What” universe — and be posted weekly via Substack. It will also appear on all major podcast platforms — Spotify, Apple and the rest. It will be video and audio — mostly because I am sooooo good looking!

The goal is to launch the pod officially sometime in late May — although we have a few technical things to work out (if anyone is a great — and cheap — video editor or knows one, shoot me an email at cillizzac@gmail.com). We are also still deciding what day is best for it; if you have suggestions, let me know.

The first few — maybe three? — episodes of the pod will be free for all subscribers so that people can get a sense of what we are doing. After that, only paid subscribers will be able to access the full episodes.

3. A ‘Sunday best’ recommendations post

Every day (and sometimes multiple times a day), I come across something — a podcast, an article, a YouTube video, a Substack, a song, a book, a TV show — that I want to tell you about.

Every Sunday, I send PAID subscribers ONLY an email with those recommendations.

I make no promises. It could have 5 recs. It could have 15. It might be stuff you’ve already seen. It might be stuff you don’t totally care about. But I hope each week there is something (and maybe a few somethings) that piques your interest. And maybe you check out or pass on to a friend — or both.

This will be exclusively for paid subscribers — and will not appear on the main Substack page for “So What.”

Ok, I think that’s it. Thanks for reading. That’s for supporting me. And if ever you want to reach me personally with kudos, comments or critiques, I am at cillizzac@gmail.com.

Chris