Ordinarily, the American public doesn't know how a president perceives the decisions he must make while he is still in office.There are, after all, so many decisions a president must make during his term. Seems like the destinies of most presidents, in the words of Forrest Gump, float on a breeze — and not a gentle one at that. They kind of go from one decision to the next without spending too much time (if any) reflecting on one that has already been made. By that time, there are already half a dozen more matters that need the president's immediate...
Monday, December 26, 2011
Friday, December 23, 2011
As the polls of Republican voters have been careening from one anti–Mitt to the next, chatter about the possibility of a brokered convention has been rising above the din.My original inclination was to dismiss such talk. The prospect just seemed too remote.My parents weren't old enough to vote the last time there was a brokered convention. But the rapid rise and fall of challengers to the consistent frontrunner, Mitt Romney, has led me to conclude...
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
"I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, FDR and Lincoln — just in terms of what we've gotten done in modern history."Barack Obama60 Minutes interviewMy, someone certainly has a high opinion of himself and his place in American history.I didn't watch the president's recent interview on CBS' 60 Minutes, but, apparently, in a segment that...
Sunday, December 18, 2011
I was listening to the radio yesterday morning, and, for awhile, the topic of the discussion was banning cell phone use while driving. Should we or shouldn't we?I missed the beginning of the conversation, but I assume it was in response to the National Transportation Safety Board's proposal this week for a ban on cell phone use and text messaging devices while driving.Now, before I go any farther with this, I guess I should say that there are times when I feel like a refugee from another time.Not to say that I am old — not yet (although there are...
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
My parents posed with me after I receivedmy master's degree from North Texas in 1991.Today is a milestone for me.It was on this day 20 years ago that I received my master's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas. That was a proud moment in my life.Sometimes I must admit that it all seems like a dream. Maybe that is a by–product of the passage of time. The farther removed I am from an experience, the more it seems like another lifetime...
Friday, December 9, 2011
I have this friend who lives in Atlanta. I would describe him as a devoted supporter of Barack Obama.He says he has been disappointed and frustrated with Obama at times, but it often seems to me that he finds ways to justify or excuse those policies that he says have been disappointing and frustrating. This also leads, at times, to overly optimistic electoral expectations. At one time, we were living parallel lives. We were pursuing our master's...
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
We'll be hearing a lot today about war and peace.Mostly war, I suppose, and that is understandable. Today is, after all, the 70th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor — the event that literally pushed the United States into World War II although one could argue that it had been getting more and more involved in the conflict in the months leading up to the attack.It is an event that still resonates with people of my parents' generation. They...
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
If former Vice President Dan Quayle is smart — and I believe the ship sailed on that one quite awhile ago — I think I would avoid taking sides on the 2012 Republican presidential race.Publicly, anyway.Privately, of course, he can do as he pleases — like anyone else.But Quayle apparently is going to publicly announce his endorsement of Mitt Romney for the presidency today in Arizona.And that could really open a Pandora's box.Quayle, who was born in...
Monday, November 28, 2011
In the ongoing countdown to next year's election, there are 344 days to go until the votes are counted on Nov. 6, 2012.That's 49 weeks from tomorrow.Just think of all the things that will be determined — one way or another — between now and that night 49 weeks from tomorrow night.In spite of that, though, there are a few things that can be taken for granted.It is generally assumed, for example, that Barack Obama will receive his party's nomination....
Thursday, November 24, 2011
It was 40 years ago today that a man known to history primarily as D.B. Cooper hijacked a Northwest Orient Airlines 727, demanded $200,000 and parachuted from the plane into legend somewhere between Portland, Ore., and Seattle.The conventional wisdom for these last four decades has been that Cooper (who actually purchased his ticket under the apparent alias of Dan Cooper, but, because of miscommunication, is remembered almost exclusively as D.B....
Friday, November 18, 2011
I've watched the rapid descent of the popular image of Barack Obama since he took the oath of office.And I've been intrigued by his apparent public evolution — from the early days of his presidency, when he was widely seen as the reincarnation of Lincoln, Washington and/or FDR, to the recent comparisons between the president and (at best) Bill Clinton following his party's disastrous losses in the 1994 midterms or (at worst) Jimmy Carter's one–term...
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