Lanny Davis

The famous conservative Republican lawyer and former solicitor general under President George W. Bush, Ted Olson, and I sat next to each other while we watched in real time the activity of the most highly classified and secret antiterrorist program being conducted by the United States: the “Terrorist Surveillance Program,” or TSP as it became known after it was first disclosed by The New York Times in December 2005.

I have known and been a friend of Attorney General Eric Holder for many years. He is a progressive Democrat who believes in First Amendment values and especially vigorous freedom for investigative reporters to publish the facts. So I give the Attorney General a heavy presumption of good faith and trying to make the best judgment at the time. 

I also know, as widely reported, that now, with the wisdom of hindsight, he is willing to express regrets about the approach used in subpoenaing telephone records of certain reporters in the course of a serious national security leak investigation, especially the ill-advised decision to name Fox investigative reporter as a criminal “co-conspirator.”

The White House counsel to the president, one of the two or three most important positions on the White House staff, must be more than a great lawyer.

I recall very well the first time I was on the Michael Smerconish radio talk show on WPHT in Philadelphia. He was doing a nationally syndicated talk show carried by 70 stations across the U.S. He was also a well-read and respected columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Thursday, April 25, on the Southern Methodist University campus in Dallas, Texas, four living presidents — Jimmy Carter, No. 39; George H.W. Bush, No. 41; Bill Clinton, No. 42, and Barack Obama, No. 44 — will honor one of their colleagues, George W. Bush, the 43rd president of the United States, at the dedication of his presidential library.

I have been writing this “Purple Nation” column for a long time, waiting for the “purple moment” when President Obama and Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) would agree on an important position on the budget and deficits. 

There are many pro-Israel Americans, including members of the American Jewish community, who believe that the best strategy for bringing Israel and the Palestinians to the peace table is for President Obama to try to appear neutral or even lean toward the Palestinian/Arab world viewpoint, 

When will they ever learn?
 
As obvious as are the fundamental rules of effective crisis management, time-tested over the ages, it is amazing how often the same mistakes are made by politicians and companies in the midst of a crisis.

Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) deserves thanks. He managed to go so far over the top in showing poor taste in his shameful questioning of former Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) during this week’s Armed Services Committee hearing on Hagel’s nomination as Defense secretary that he managed to assure that Hagel will be confirmed, as he should be.

Once in a while, a book about business theory and philosophy transcends the usual audience that reads “how to” business books — with lessons to be learned by everyone, business people and consumers alike. Such a book is Conscious Capitalism, recently published by the Harvard Business Review Press.