Don’t know about you, but I didn’t realize that President George W. Bush was on the ballot for the presidency in 2008. My first impression from the debate last night was the shrill, strident tone many of the candidates on the stage took towards the president in general and the war in Iraq in particular. And if I hear “If I had known then what I know now, I would never have voted for the war” one more time, I’m going to go crazy.

First, hindsight is always 20-20. The pandering and apparent soul-searching to appease the far left by former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) was particularly irritating. I was struck by the lack of a coherent message of what any of the candidates would actually do if they were elected president. While all claimed to oppose the war and support “comprehensive border control,” I didn’t hear anything by way of a new plan or idea to move the country forward. Leadership in a time of war requires strength, resolve and convictions; all the Democrats on the stage sounded like they were more interested in appeasing far-left groups like MoveOn.org rather than confronting the real dangers presented by the war on terrorism that the United States is facing. Read more...

If Rudy Giuliani has to hide out in New York City, how is his presidential campaign going to make it through the long haul? According to the New York Daily News Rudy gets followed to every campaign stop there by parents and widows of 9/11 firefighters, who hold signs that say things like "Rudy for President? Not in My Son's Name!" and "America's Night Mayor." The group, including union members and FDNY veterans, claim Giuliani failed for years to provide adequate radios to fire departments and that it cost many of their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. As Rudy slips in the back door of the events it can't look good to attendees who walk in the front.

But Rudy snapped at a voter in a New Hampshire town hall meeting this week as well. When one questioner suggested that the war on terror had led to an erosion of civil rights, Giuliani told him he had "an extremely exaggerated presentation of things and you didn't point out the other fact — and that is that we haven't been attacked, and that we've been safe." Marty Capodice, 64, said in reply, "So no rights?" And according to the Daily News, "That's hardly no rights!" was Giuliani's loud response. Read more...

Watching the unusual and strange early Democratic presidential debate last night at my alma mater, South Carolina State University, where I was student body president for two consecutive years, it seems that MSNBC would have us believe that in 90 minutes eight candidates could tell us everything we need to know about the issues of foreign policy, domestic policy, moral striving and civility. With a few more debates to be televised, the network implies that we can find comfort in which candidate we will support.

Let me get this straight: eight candidates and hour and a half … that’s just over 10 minutes each! Obviously the questioner there was somewhat intimidated by frontrunners Clinton and Obama and allowed them to repeatedly exceed their time limits while the others were kept in check. What kind of nation are we when we base our decisions about a presidential
candidate on theater at its best and worst? Television debates are just Hollywood-style productions that showcase only personality, charisma and whatever other shallowness to which this country is endeared. Read more...

The idea that Jack Valenti could die never crossed my mind.

I had only a very short career at the Motion Picture Association of America. Compared to Jack, it was only seconds. But by far, the brightest moment in my career there was a short conversation I had with Jack.

In his husky Texas accent, he said to me: “John, I wasn’t prepared to like you. But I do like you and I respect you.” That exchange was one of the proudest moments in my life.

Jack had that effect on almost everyone. Knowing Jack Valenti was knowing a true, living icon, who carried himself with great pride, great dignity and great class. Even if you disagreed with him on everything, meeting Jack made you feel good about being a human being. Read more...

Rudy Giuliani hit the nail on the head with his comment that if the Democrats win in 2008, we will be running up the white flag and going over to defense in the war on terror. The prompt and acerbic replies from the usually well-mannered Democratic field of candidates shows how close to the mark his barb was.

The fact is that the Democrats, led by former president Bill Clinton, have always seen terrorism as a criminal justice problem rather than a war. Unwilling to commit troops except at 35,000 feet in jet aircraft (preferably stealth), the Clinton administration and National Security Advisor Sandy Berger illustrated how risk-averse and conflict-avoiding an administration could become. Read more...

The new congressional majority is making great headlines beating up members of the executive branch, but making little progress on important priorities of the nation.

House Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) has subpoenaed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rise over nuclear yellow cake, sparking a possible executive branch-legislative branch showdown. This fight will dominate the headlines. But what new ground will this hearing break? After all, Rice already testified on this issue in her confirmation for the post she currently occupies.

Following the grilling of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales last week over the firing of U.S. attorneys who everyone agrees the president has the right to fire, you can see a trend here. Read more...

Tonight America will get its first real look at the major contenders for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Far from being too early or irrelevant, I believe the stakes tonight are high for those at the top and bottom of the draw.

For starters, both Sens. Barack Obama (Ill.) and Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) have the most to gain and the most to lose. For Clinton, long dogged by high disapproval ratings, she can utilize her time on the stage tonight to present a more likable and personable candidate than many have seen thus far. A likable Clinton will help put distance between herself and Obama as the frontrunner at this stage. Yet Clinton also runs the risk of being attacked by some of the lesser-known and lower-polling candidates — attacks that she should be careful not to respond to in a shrill manner that could reinforce negative impressions held about her. She’ll have a delicate tightrope to walk, indeed. Read more...

With all his money, good looks, high-ranking Republican friends like the Bushes, and even a seemingly storybook marriage to a popular and well-liked beauty, it is still hard for Mitt Romney to stand out from — let alone pull ahead of — the bizarre 2008 GOP presidential field. It's not that everybody loves Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain or any of the others. At this point there is just no momentum for Mitt.

One of the problems is Romney's lack of identity with any signature issue. He could have made it healthcare, after helping usher in a groundbreaking, bipartisan healthcare reform in Massachusetts, but he chose not to. He can't make abortion his thing, or opposing gay marriage for that matter; there are only a few primary voters who truly believe his precarious, even
if religious, conversions on both of these thorny social issues. Read more...

On Christopher Lydon's radio show, several journalists recounted their recent dinner with David Halberstam shortly before his death.

Halberstam was mournful at the decline of the media in the days of Iraq, remembering how he and others warned the nation, and their readers, in the early days of the Vietnam War.

Bill Moyers reports the story well in his PBS special about the media and Iraq.

When it mattered, in 2002 and 2003, virtually the entire American major media covered Iraq the way Pravda covered the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They jumped on what they believed was the winning side politically, maintained their insider power base, and sustained the high income that would have been threatened if they reported the truth. Read more...