Entries for April 2006

Earth Day has come and gone, but not before the editorial staff of the Wall Street Journal took a clumsy swing at it. To the surprise of no one who knows the Journal's political leanings, the real target was former Vice President Al Gore. He has always been a favorite punching bag of the Journal.

Unless there is a dramatic shift in the next few weeks, the changes so far in the Bush White House are largely cosmetic. Aides and chairs are being moved around, but there is no indication a stubborn president is ready to make any real policy changes at home or abroad.

PHILADELPHIA–No state is more important to Democrats in this year's off-year election than Pennsylvania.

Of all the Republican-held seats in the Senate coveted by the opposition, none is more so than the one held by Sen. Rick Santorum. Democrats are eager to send him home. For them, he is target No. 1.

In the matter of whether Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld should stay at the Pentagon or retire to the good life: Former President George H. W. Bush should step in and tell him it's time to step aside.

Recall that it was George W. Bush himself who issued the tough talk to John Sununu, then chief of staff to Bush 41. Sununu was under fire for using government transportation for personal use, and his arrogant manner didn't help his cause.

The 2008 presidential election is a distant 31 months away, and horse-race polls are already starting to appear in the media. Shame on us.

Will my brethren in the press please cease and desist for at least the next eight months or so? Every four years after a blizzard of polls preceding the election, we take a vow to make amends, but we never do. The temptation is just too great.

The gold medal for political spinner of 2006 has already been retired. And the winner is: former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, the soon-to-be-retired Hammer of the House.

MURFREESBORO, Tenn.–The press has inflicted deep wounds on itself in recent years, but not all is wrong or lost in the media. That was the message in a three-day conference here on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University.