Alfonse M. D’Amato, who preceded Chuck Schumer in the U.S. Senate, was affectionately known as “Senator Pothole” for his tireless efforts for constituents on a major issue of the time.
Now he is devoting himself to another--their right to lose the rent money playing poker online. As a lobbyist for the Poker Player’s Alliance, the New York Times reports, he is working to overturn a federal ban on Internet gambling.
“The poor guy at home,” Sen. D’Amato pleads, “can’t bet $50 at home because we pass this law.”
A devoted Republican hack in Nassau County, New York, he became an accidental senator in 1980 by defeating Jacob Javits in a primary. The esteemed Javits, then fatally ill, pulled a Ralph Nader by running on the Liberal Party line, allowing D’Amato to defeat his Democratic opponent by a narrow margin.
In addition to getting road cavities filled, the highlight of his eight-year career was a reprimand by the Ethics Committee for letting his brother use Senate stationery for pursuing lobbying contracts.
The urge for public service apparently never dies.
Monday, March 05, 2007
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Weekend in Selma
When marchers in Selma, Alabama were being beaten on the Edmund Pettus bridge in March 1965, Martin Luther King Jr. was not with them. When he heard about the brutality, Dr. King suffered an “agony of conscience” for not being there. He had stayed in Montgomery for the Sunday services of his church.
He went to Selma the next week and, in the week after that, Lyndon Johnson made a passionate speech to Congress, which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Selma brought us a voting bill,” Dr. King later wrote.
This weekend, Hillary Clinton and Oback Barama were in Selma to commemorate that turning point in American history. They said all the right things.
But Senators Clinton and Obama should also recall what Martin Luther King did the following month. He spoke to 150,000 in New York’s Central Park denouncing the war in Vietnam against the advice of many of his supporters. Some felt his opposition to the war was diluting his efforts for civil rights. Others were so disturbed about “disreputable” protesters that Dr. King had to resign from the board of SANE, the leading anti-nuclear organization.
Back in Washington, the two Senators might reflect on that. What they do to stop the war in Iraq may not always be popular or politically profitable, but it will be as morally right as their visit to Selma.
He went to Selma the next week and, in the week after that, Lyndon Johnson made a passionate speech to Congress, which led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“Selma brought us a voting bill,” Dr. King later wrote.
This weekend, Hillary Clinton and Oback Barama were in Selma to commemorate that turning point in American history. They said all the right things.
But Senators Clinton and Obama should also recall what Martin Luther King did the following month. He spoke to 150,000 in New York’s Central Park denouncing the war in Vietnam against the advice of many of his supporters. Some felt his opposition to the war was diluting his efforts for civil rights. Others were so disturbed about “disreputable” protesters that Dr. King had to resign from the board of SANE, the leading anti-nuclear organization.
Back in Washington, the two Senators might reflect on that. What they do to stop the war in Iraq may not always be popular or politically profitable, but it will be as morally right as their visit to Selma.
New York, New York...New York?
If the front-runners win nomination for ’08, New York will have its first Presidential Subway Series in history.
But a weirder scenario may be in the works--a three-way contest of New Yorkers for the White House, with Mike Bloomberg running as an Independent.
In that case, how will the shy inhabitants of the city that the Rev. Jesse Jackson once fondly called “Hymietown” react to all the national attention?
Bloomberg, positioned as a leading moderate, may see an opening between Rudy Giuliani, who Mayored his way into America’s heart after 9/11 but is now cheerleading for Bush in Iraq, and Hillary Clinton, the polarizing Chappaqua matron from Illinois, Yale and Arkansas.
New York’s current Mayor, a billionaire, is financially positioned to make a late entry early next year if voters seem to be lukewarm about his neighbors.
At the very least, this three-way race should be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.
But a weirder scenario may be in the works--a three-way contest of New Yorkers for the White House, with Mike Bloomberg running as an Independent.
In that case, how will the shy inhabitants of the city that the Rev. Jesse Jackson once fondly called “Hymietown” react to all the national attention?
Bloomberg, positioned as a leading moderate, may see an opening between Rudy Giuliani, who Mayored his way into America’s heart after 9/11 but is now cheerleading for Bush in Iraq, and Hillary Clinton, the polarizing Chappaqua matron from Illinois, Yale and Arkansas.
New York’s current Mayor, a billionaire, is financially positioned to make a late entry early next year if voters seem to be lukewarm about his neighbors.
At the very least, this three-way race should be free of attack ads picturing opponents as latte-drinking cosmopolites who are out of tune with America’s heartland.
News: The View from 83
The odometer in my head clicked up a notch today to 83. If you count blogging, I’ve been in journalism 65 years.
Time moved slowly when I was young, and our picture of the world came from the frozen type of newspapers and grainy images of newsreels at the movie house.
Now we are drowning in sights and sounds. I get instant news from TV and the Internet, and I blog back my reactions to people everywhere.
Back then, we thought we understood everything, but there was so much we didn’t know. Now we know everything, but there is much we don’t understand.
My working life as a reporter, editor and publisher can be measured not in coffee spoons but the differences in the ways we connect to the world beyond our own senses.
As a newspaper copy boy, I groped through the smoke of a four-alarm fire, clutching a photographer’s plates so readers could see it at breakfast the next morning.
From mid-century, we experienced events not through our minds but with our eyes and ears--and in our nervous systems. We were all in Dallas that day in 1963. We took that first step on the moon with Neil Armstrong. We felt the pain of Vietnam in the pit of our stomachs every night on the network news.
The job of journalists was the same, only more so. As the flood of words and pictures swelled, it was important not just to report news but try to make sense of it. More than ever, it still is.
I read the New York Times and other news sites these days on a computer screen while wearing a bathrobe, but with information being stuffed into me from all sides, I am still starved for understanding.
Breaking news is now mostly the work of young people on camera and online. Their elders may dig out unseen meaning behind it and create some kind of context. Geezers like me try to blog connections to the past that could hold clues to the future.
The world we live in may seem depressing some days, but the view from 83 is not bad. Bring on the birthday cake.
Time moved slowly when I was young, and our picture of the world came from the frozen type of newspapers and grainy images of newsreels at the movie house.
Now we are drowning in sights and sounds. I get instant news from TV and the Internet, and I blog back my reactions to people everywhere.
Back then, we thought we understood everything, but there was so much we didn’t know. Now we know everything, but there is much we don’t understand.
My working life as a reporter, editor and publisher can be measured not in coffee spoons but the differences in the ways we connect to the world beyond our own senses.
As a newspaper copy boy, I groped through the smoke of a four-alarm fire, clutching a photographer’s plates so readers could see it at breakfast the next morning.
From mid-century, we experienced events not through our minds but with our eyes and ears--and in our nervous systems. We were all in Dallas that day in 1963. We took that first step on the moon with Neil Armstrong. We felt the pain of Vietnam in the pit of our stomachs every night on the network news.
The job of journalists was the same, only more so. As the flood of words and pictures swelled, it was important not just to report news but try to make sense of it. More than ever, it still is.
I read the New York Times and other news sites these days on a computer screen while wearing a bathrobe, but with information being stuffed into me from all sides, I am still starved for understanding.
Breaking news is now mostly the work of young people on camera and online. Their elders may dig out unseen meaning behind it and create some kind of context. Geezers like me try to blog connections to the past that could hold clues to the future.
The world we live in may seem depressing some days, but the view from 83 is not bad. Bring on the birthday cake.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
A Prayer for the Rev. Al Sharpton
Watching Al Sharpton with Jon Stewart this week was a wrenching experience. It would take a heart of stone not to be moved by the Reverend’s distress that he might be related to Sen. Strom Thurmond, a symbol of American racism.
Rev. Sharpton’s demand for DNA testing may help clear this all up, but his own history may make him wary about the reliability of medical testing.
In the 1987 case that brought him to prominence, his support of Tawana Brawley’s claim of rape by six white men, including law officers, was undercut by forensic testimony leading to a grand jury verdict that it did not occur and, a decade later, another jury’s award against Rev. Sharpton of $65,000 to one of the accused men.
This devout man may have to live with the anguish of uncertainty about his own origins, but surely he will be comforted by the sympathy of so many Americans who have shared this experience with him on every TV newscast, including the one about fake news.
Rev. Sharpton’s demand for DNA testing may help clear this all up, but his own history may make him wary about the reliability of medical testing.
In the 1987 case that brought him to prominence, his support of Tawana Brawley’s claim of rape by six white men, including law officers, was undercut by forensic testimony leading to a grand jury verdict that it did not occur and, a decade later, another jury’s award against Rev. Sharpton of $65,000 to one of the accused men.
This devout man may have to live with the anguish of uncertainty about his own origins, but surely he will be comforted by the sympathy of so many Americans who have shared this experience with him on every TV newscast, including the one about fake news.
Toughening Up Obama
As a book end to the Hillary Clinton "testosterone test," Maureen Dowd in today's New York Times relates her attempt to encourage Barack Obama to get more aggressive. It's like teaching your kid to stand up to schoolyard bullies without becoming one himself.
The Double-Dealt Generation
They’re 17, 18, 19 years old and voting for the first time in 2008. Will they go to the polls thinking Presidents always lie?
They were pre-pubescent when Bill Clinton was being impeached for lying about unzipping in the Oval Office. Presidents should tell the truth, lawmakers declaimed.
Since then these young people have known only George W. Bush who lies about everything, from the reasons for going to war in Iraq to when he knew about Hurricane Katrina.
They have learned to laugh at what the President says from Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, but who will they take seriously?
As they listen skeptically, what do they make of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards, Mitt Romney et al? As some of them rally around Barack Obama, will their tentative faith be rewarded? Or have we bred a generation of cynics who won’t know the truth when they hear it?
They were pre-pubescent when Bill Clinton was being impeached for lying about unzipping in the Oval Office. Presidents should tell the truth, lawmakers declaimed.
Since then these young people have known only George W. Bush who lies about everything, from the reasons for going to war in Iraq to when he knew about Hurricane Katrina.
They have learned to laugh at what the President says from Jon Stewart and Bill Maher, but who will they take seriously?
As they listen skeptically, what do they make of Hillary Clinton, Rudy Giuliani, John Edwards, Mitt Romney et al? As some of them rally around Barack Obama, will their tentative faith be rewarded? Or have we bred a generation of cynics who won’t know the truth when they hear it?
Friday, March 02, 2007
"Are We There Yet?"
In our impatience to get to November 2008, we’re like kids twitching in the family car on a long trip. The coloring books and sweet treats are running low, and there’s growing panic in the front seats about keeping us distracted.
They give us word games: Should McCain and Obama have said lives are being “sacrificed” not “wasted”?
They give us joke books: “Mitt Romney’s 101 Positions on Any Issue You Choose” (with pop-up hairstyles).
They give us crayons: Fill in the lines and make Rudy Giuliani look like Ronald Reagan.
Maybe we should just check into the next motel and sleep for 87 weeks.
Clyde Haberman in the New York Times has another idea: an “immediate Mega-Super-Blockbuster primary” so we can get everyone but one Republican and one Democrat off the road.
We may not get there any sooner, but the trip will seem shorter.
They give us word games: Should McCain and Obama have said lives are being “sacrificed” not “wasted”?
They give us joke books: “Mitt Romney’s 101 Positions on Any Issue You Choose” (with pop-up hairstyles).
They give us crayons: Fill in the lines and make Rudy Giuliani look like Ronald Reagan.
Maybe we should just check into the next motel and sleep for 87 weeks.
Clyde Haberman in the New York Times has another idea: an “immediate Mega-Super-Blockbuster primary” so we can get everyone but one Republican and one Democrat off the road.
We may not get there any sooner, but the trip will seem shorter.
Testosterone Test: Hillary and 9/11
Hillary Rodham Clinton would have a better chance of becoming President if 9/11 had never happened.
That trauma stalled, at least temporarily, American readiness for a woman in the Oval Office, and what Bush’s people did in 2004 pushed her problem to ugly extremes.
The swift-boating of John Kerry was less an assault on his character than his manhood. In the bizarre universe of Karl Rove & Co., the wounded war veteran was pictured as softer than the privileged rich boy who evaded combat--and as a flip-flopper to boot.
By now, voters have seen where Bush’s so-called “toughness” can lead, but his minions’ campaign to tar Kerry as weak and indecisive worked well enough to win. The pressure to appear steadfast may have something to do with Senator Clinton’s stubborn refusal now to admit her 2002 vote on Iraq was a mistake.
The unspoken “Daddy will protect us” canard goes back a long way in American politics: In the 1950s Eisenhower, the war hero, had no trouble twice defeating Adlai Stevenson, who projected more wit than machismo in those first days of nuclear fear.
Lyndon Johnson once summed it up in describing Nixon. “Not much here,” he said, pointing to his head. “Even less here,” with his hand over his heart. Then he lowered it below his belt: “But enough down there.”
We had been evolving from that kind of schoolyard stupidity--until 9/11. Without his TV exposure as a strong leader back then, would Rudy Giuliani now be heading for the nomination of a party that loathes his politics?
Republicans always try to portray Democrats as soft-hearted “weak sisters.” The terrorists have helped them make that devious strategy work, at least for a while. But they can't play on our fears forever.
That trauma stalled, at least temporarily, American readiness for a woman in the Oval Office, and what Bush’s people did in 2004 pushed her problem to ugly extremes.
The swift-boating of John Kerry was less an assault on his character than his manhood. In the bizarre universe of Karl Rove & Co., the wounded war veteran was pictured as softer than the privileged rich boy who evaded combat--and as a flip-flopper to boot.
By now, voters have seen where Bush’s so-called “toughness” can lead, but his minions’ campaign to tar Kerry as weak and indecisive worked well enough to win. The pressure to appear steadfast may have something to do with Senator Clinton’s stubborn refusal now to admit her 2002 vote on Iraq was a mistake.
The unspoken “Daddy will protect us” canard goes back a long way in American politics: In the 1950s Eisenhower, the war hero, had no trouble twice defeating Adlai Stevenson, who projected more wit than machismo in those first days of nuclear fear.
Lyndon Johnson once summed it up in describing Nixon. “Not much here,” he said, pointing to his head. “Even less here,” with his hand over his heart. Then he lowered it below his belt: “But enough down there.”
We had been evolving from that kind of schoolyard stupidity--until 9/11. Without his TV exposure as a strong leader back then, would Rudy Giuliani now be heading for the nomination of a party that loathes his politics?
Republicans always try to portray Democrats as soft-hearted “weak sisters.” The terrorists have helped them make that devious strategy work, at least for a while. But they can't play on our fears forever.
Grandparenting
There is one thing in today’s world that is not over-hyped. The bad news is that you have to wait until late in life to experience it. I speak, of course, about being a grandparent.
When the kids are little, you play with them, then go home and leave the scut work to their parents. Later on, you take them places, and they think you’re wondeful.
It’s one the few things in life that just keeps getting better. Little people begin to emerge from those adorable babies and toddlers, and they are fascinating. Everything they do and say gets replayed in your mind and, if you aren’t careful, you find yourself babbling to strangers...as I’m doing now.
Today is the eleventh birthday of Baxter and Griffin, and every minute has been pure wonder and joy. I can’t predict which of them will be President of the U.S. first. Then again it might be my sweet Quincy, who is nine and won’t be left out of anything. I’m still planning to take her to the high-school prom over any teen-age body that gets in the way.
When connecting the dots in your life becomes an imperative, the most important are generations. Some time ago, my wife and I moved out of a house we loved two hours away so we could go to the kids’ ball games and school concerts and be with them to give their parents a well-earned night out.
We haven’t regretted it for a minute. Bless you, Brett and Keith, for the gifts of our lives.
When the kids are little, you play with them, then go home and leave the scut work to their parents. Later on, you take them places, and they think you’re wondeful.
It’s one the few things in life that just keeps getting better. Little people begin to emerge from those adorable babies and toddlers, and they are fascinating. Everything they do and say gets replayed in your mind and, if you aren’t careful, you find yourself babbling to strangers...as I’m doing now.
Today is the eleventh birthday of Baxter and Griffin, and every minute has been pure wonder and joy. I can’t predict which of them will be President of the U.S. first. Then again it might be my sweet Quincy, who is nine and won’t be left out of anything. I’m still planning to take her to the high-school prom over any teen-age body that gets in the way.
When connecting the dots in your life becomes an imperative, the most important are generations. Some time ago, my wife and I moved out of a house we loved two hours away so we could go to the kids’ ball games and school concerts and be with them to give their parents a well-earned night out.
We haven’t regretted it for a minute. Bless you, Brett and Keith, for the gifts of our lives.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Free Speech?
At the end of the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee, who refused to give newspaper interviews throughout his life, was asked to write his memoirs. He refused. “I should be trading on the blood of my men,” he said.
Things have changed. Today’s political uproar is over Hillary Clinton’s ethics disclosure that her husband, the former President, earned $31 million in speaking fees during a five-year period.
Republicans are upset that some of it might end up in her campaign chest. Democrats are pointing to the $2 million Ronald Reagan earned for one speech in Japan and to the fact that Bush the Elder walked off a dais with Global Crossing stock eventually valued at $14 million.
They used to say talk is cheap.
Things have changed. Today’s political uproar is over Hillary Clinton’s ethics disclosure that her husband, the former President, earned $31 million in speaking fees during a five-year period.
Republicans are upset that some of it might end up in her campaign chest. Democrats are pointing to the $2 million Ronald Reagan earned for one speech in Japan and to the fact that Bush the Elder walked off a dais with Global Crossing stock eventually valued at $14 million.
They used to say talk is cheap.
McCain's Moment of Truth
During his pre-announcement of his pre-candidacy to David Letterman last night, John McCain said American lives have been "wasted" in Iraq.
Now the Senator is busy backpedalling to political truthiness, saying he should have said "sacrificed."
In Presidential politics, it's a gaffe when the driver of the "Straight Talk Express" actually lets the truth slip.
Now the Senator is busy backpedalling to political truthiness, saying he should have said "sacrificed."
In Presidential politics, it's a gaffe when the driver of the "Straight Talk Express" actually lets the truth slip.
Inhuman Interest on Cable
Eons ago, when I was a newspaper copy boy, they called it “human interest,” filling out the day’s happenings with little tales of quirky people and odd events.
They are still doing that on cable news, but quirky and odd have morphed into bizarre and repulsive.
Larry King, celebrating fifty years in broadcasting, is now more preoccupied with the family, friends and hangers-on of Anna Nicole Smith, the putative fathers of her baby and the “American Idol” crowd than he used to be with Bob Woodward’s revelations about Bush and Iraq.
Keith Olbermann (with his “Worst Persons)” Joe Scarborough and the rest tell us all about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton etc., then take us down to the next species sublevel by solemnly interviewing the slimy Boswells of "celebrity journalism.”
Every medium (even a blog) needs ratings, viewers, listeners and readers, but how low are we going to go and how much of our time are we going to spend there?
They are still doing that on cable news, but quirky and odd have morphed into bizarre and repulsive.
Larry King, celebrating fifty years in broadcasting, is now more preoccupied with the family, friends and hangers-on of Anna Nicole Smith, the putative fathers of her baby and the “American Idol” crowd than he used to be with Bob Woodward’s revelations about Bush and Iraq.
Keith Olbermann (with his “Worst Persons)” Joe Scarborough and the rest tell us all about Britney Spears, Paris Hilton etc., then take us down to the next species sublevel by solemnly interviewing the slimy Boswells of "celebrity journalism.”
Every medium (even a blog) needs ratings, viewers, listeners and readers, but how low are we going to go and how much of our time are we going to spend there?
Edwards' Mea Culpa Campaign
Talk about making lemonade: John Edwards is now telling reporters he is “proud” to admit his mistake in voting for the Iraq war in 2002.
In fact, admitting the mistake has become the central theme of his campaign. Running on a platform of “honesty, openness and decency,” Edwards says “There is not a single voter in America who doesn’t understand their president is human, and their president will sometimes make mistakes.”
Edwards reminds me of how Geraldo Rivera described the secret of his success: “It’s all about sincerity. Anybody can fake being sincere for five minutes.”
In fact, admitting the mistake has become the central theme of his campaign. Running on a platform of “honesty, openness and decency,” Edwards says “There is not a single voter in America who doesn’t understand their president is human, and their president will sometimes make mistakes.”
Edwards reminds me of how Geraldo Rivera described the secret of his success: “It’s all about sincerity. Anybody can fake being sincere for five minutes.”
Draft Cheney!
It’s painful to see the Grand Old Party in disarray, flirting with the liberal likes of Giuliani and McCain when the answer to its ’08 problem has been staring them in the face all this time.
Never mind all the talk about “secondary virgins,” Republicans don’t have to settle for second best: Draft Dick Cheney!
After these years of glorious apprenticeship to (some might say partnership with) George W. Bush, the Vice-President is more than ready to take it to the next level. He is only 66 years young and feisty as ever. A man who can overcome multiple heart attacks and face down Wolf Blitzer should be up for any challenge.
Starting public service as an intern in the Nixon White House, after declining to waste any of his youthful zeal in the Democrat war in Vietnam, Cheney has learned statecraft from the ground up in almost 40 years of Washington combat.
The Republican Party must persuade him to overcome his modesty and shyness to lead the nation to new heights of respect in the world. Start readying those banners and buttons that would say it all: “Dick!”
Never mind all the talk about “secondary virgins,” Republicans don’t have to settle for second best: Draft Dick Cheney!
After these years of glorious apprenticeship to (some might say partnership with) George W. Bush, the Vice-President is more than ready to take it to the next level. He is only 66 years young and feisty as ever. A man who can overcome multiple heart attacks and face down Wolf Blitzer should be up for any challenge.
Starting public service as an intern in the Nixon White House, after declining to waste any of his youthful zeal in the Democrat war in Vietnam, Cheney has learned statecraft from the ground up in almost 40 years of Washington combat.
The Republican Party must persuade him to overcome his modesty and shyness to lead the nation to new heights of respect in the world. Start readying those banners and buttons that would say it all: “Dick!”
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
No Peace for the Newsworthy 2
Speaking of posthumous (but not quite) publicity, herewith more than you want to know about your blushing blogtogenarian, written with superb journalistic accuracy and acumen by Patricia Gay of The Weston (CT) Forum. I would apologize to Jon Stewart, but I don't have his e-mail address.
No Peace for the Newsworthy
Will somebody please, please bury Anna Nicole Smith and James Brown so we can stop hearing about their posthumous real-estate problems?
All this hoo-ha is just validating the old media saw that, for some celebrities, death can be a great career move. They don't need the publicity now.
All this hoo-ha is just validating the old media saw that, for some celebrities, death can be a great career move. They don't need the publicity now.
Back to the Future
If Newt Gingrich is the Republican answer, what is the question?
As Rudy Giuliani and John McCain try to retro-fit themselves to ultra-conservative specifications, the Newtster, who hasn’t even taken off his sweat clothes, is running third in the party’s polls.
The pol who gave us a Contract with America and put one out on Bill Clinton in the late 1990s is making right-wing hearts race just by not being an untrustworthy hero-mayor or a maverick former POW. Will he be their "Secondary Virgin"?
On the other side, nostalgia is setting in, too. After Al Gore floated through the Oscars like a Macy’s Thanksgiving balloon, he gets a valentine from Maureen Dowd in today’s New York Times.
With fourteen months to go, voters already seem to be tiring of talk about Hillary Clinton’s lovability and Mitt Romney’s too-perfect hair.
Can we all just take a long nap until January 20, 2009?
As Rudy Giuliani and John McCain try to retro-fit themselves to ultra-conservative specifications, the Newtster, who hasn’t even taken off his sweat clothes, is running third in the party’s polls.
The pol who gave us a Contract with America and put one out on Bill Clinton in the late 1990s is making right-wing hearts race just by not being an untrustworthy hero-mayor or a maverick former POW. Will he be their "Secondary Virgin"?
On the other side, nostalgia is setting in, too. After Al Gore floated through the Oscars like a Macy’s Thanksgiving balloon, he gets a valentine from Maureen Dowd in today’s New York Times.
With fourteen months to go, voters already seem to be tiring of talk about Hillary Clinton’s lovability and Mitt Romney’s too-perfect hair.
Can we all just take a long nap until January 20, 2009?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
National Nightmare
An image persists. America is in one of those jerking jalopies in an old silent movie with speeded-up film, heading for a cliff.
In the driver’s seat, George Bush is smiling confidently, waving at passersby. Next to him, hair on end, Congress is frantically trying to make him stop, gesticulating wildly, trying to grab the steering wheel and yank his leg off the gas pedal.
The approach to the cliff seems endless, but it isn’t. We’re all in the back seat, holding our breath, but the vehicle keeps bouncing toward the edge.
Won’t somebody stop the projector and turn up the lights? Nobody is laughing.
In the driver’s seat, George Bush is smiling confidently, waving at passersby. Next to him, hair on end, Congress is frantically trying to make him stop, gesticulating wildly, trying to grab the steering wheel and yank his leg off the gas pedal.
The approach to the cliff seems endless, but it isn’t. We’re all in the back seat, holding our breath, but the vehicle keeps bouncing toward the edge.
Won’t somebody stop the projector and turn up the lights? Nobody is laughing.
President, Congress Agree on Middle East
Fifty years ago, after debating Presidential policies in the Middle East, Congress approved the Eisenhower Doctrine in March 1957.
The world was different then, yet the hostility and intrigue were there. But our troops were not dying in Iraq, and no one was trying to kill our Vice President in Afghanistan.
Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser was flirting with the Soviet Union and promoting radical Arab nationalism. The U.S. moved to stop him.
Our diplomacy was not brilliant then either. “The genius of you Americans,” Nassar told a CIA agent, “is that you never made clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves, which made us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them that we were missing.”
He called the Eisenhower Doctrine “one of the shrewdest mistakes ever made by a Great Power...”
The lesson for today is that we were involved even then in what came to be called “the clash of civilizations,” but we were fighting with words not blood, and we were flexible with our diplomacy.
Eisenhower liked to quote the philosopher George Santayana: “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”
The world was different then, yet the hostility and intrigue were there. But our troops were not dying in Iraq, and no one was trying to kill our Vice President in Afghanistan.
Egyptian President Gamel Abdel Nasser was flirting with the Soviet Union and promoting radical Arab nationalism. The U.S. moved to stop him.
Our diplomacy was not brilliant then either. “The genius of you Americans,” Nassar told a CIA agent, “is that you never made clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves, which made us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them that we were missing.”
He called the Eisenhower Doctrine “one of the shrewdest mistakes ever made by a Great Power...”
The lesson for today is that we were involved even then in what came to be called “the clash of civilizations,” but we were fighting with words not blood, and we were flexible with our diplomacy.
Eisenhower liked to quote the philosopher George Santayana: “Fanaticism consists in redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim.”
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