Oprah Good; Pundits Bad

By Hank Edson

With the writer’s strike in play, the nation has been badly missing its nightly dose of John Stewart, especially when it comes to those clips showing a series of one pundit after another banally repeating the same talking points with overwrought intensity. What has particularly been driving me crazy these past few days is hearing over and over again one pundit after another saying they don’t think Oprah Winfrey will have that much impact on the presidential campaign and that she might be getting in over her head.

What the pundits don’t get about Oprah is that she is like MoveOn.org and Ross Perot: She is an available high capacity vehicle for the people’s political energy in a time when the political process is completely clogged up by corruption and our government is utterly dysfunctional. It’s not about Oprah’s impact. And she doesn’t have to pass any “gotcha” question test. All Oprah has to do is offer the people a compellingly powerful platform they recognize as also having more integrity than they find in the charade that has become our election process.

When a rushing river runs up against a dam, it tests the banks to find the path of least resistance. This is the situation in which we, the American people, find ourselves as we approach the 2008 election. We desperately need a means of securing political leadership that represents our interests, and yet,...READ MORE!

Fire Robert Novak!

By Hank Edson

"I may have called you a douchebag... but I only said those things because I honestly think you're a horrible person!" 
                                            -- John Stewart

Robert Novak’s unseemly brand of journalism should have been amply demonstrated by his role in publishing the identity of an active undercover CIA agent, exposing her and multiple other agents around the world to life-threatening danger. In how many professions, after all, would a person be allowed to cause the type of damage and danger that Novak’s revelations caused and still be allowed to keep their job? In how many professions would it matter whether or not the individual who caused the damage knew or did not know the damage he was causing in deciding whether that individual would continue his duties, “business as usual?”

At a certain level of professionalism, one becomes responsible to take the steps necessary to ensure that his actions don’t cause serious damage. Thus, it’s hardly unreasonable to suggest that Rule 1 for a senior op-ed columnist for the Washington Post ought to be: check with the CIA before you publish the name of one of its agents. Failure to demonstrate a professional appreciation of the risk involved with one’s actions and a determined and responsible effort to ensure one’s actions caused no damage is usually followed by some kind of a reprimand, suspension, retraining, or firing.

In Novak’s case, relying on the word of an official in a cowboy administration when discussing an issue that involved one of the administration’s greatest critics does not meet the professional standard. Newspapers like the Chicago Sun-Times that carry Novak’s syndicated column and the Washington Post that publishes Novak twice a week ought to have...READ MORE!

The Answer to Bloomberg?

Ad-Free Gore!
 

By Hank Edson

I originally posted this piece in a slightly different form back in June, when Bloomberg decided to drop out of the Republican Party.  Since Newsweek devoted it's cover story to Bloomberg this week, I thought it was time to reiterate the thoughts I had in June.

When New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke from the Republican Party this June, there was widespread speculation that he would make an independent run at the presidency using his own fortune. This past week Newsweek renewed interest in this possibility by devoting its cover to Bloomberg’s presidential ambitions. Bloomberg, however, is just the latest act in a political season burgeoning with discontented energy after six plus years of the worst presidency in our history.

To begin with, there were all those potential firsts: the first woman president (Hillary), the first black president (Barack), the first Latino (Bill), the first Mormon (Mitt). Then there were those two non-candidates polling high in both the Democratic and Republican Parties: Al Gore and Fred Thompson. Thompson eventually threw his hat in the ring and his aura as a contender quickly wore off. Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize and is a more appealing candidate than ever. And now, there is Bloomberg, the conservative independent billionaire, the serious person’s Ross Perot.

All this energy is good for a political system that has long ceased to inspire, there is no doubt, but none of this energy will provide the American people the leadership we need to repair the damage wrought by...READ MORE!

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