Susan Estrich from Creators Syndicate

Attack, He Said for 08/01/2008

Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

What does Barack Obama have to do with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton?

Absolutely nothing, as far as I can tell. A mentally unstable party girl and an heiress/party girl? Did I miss the part where Obama's father was a hotel magnate, where he couldn't be trusted to take care of his children, where he literally partied till he dropped?

Yet that is the connection the McCain campaign ...

Updated: Fri Aug 01, 2008

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Is Anyone Ready? for 08/06/2008

Wed, 06 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

The knives are out for my friend Bill Clinton. Again.

There he is in Rwanda, not one of the top spots for August vacations, trying to do something to stop a few million Africans from dying of curable diseases. Far as I can tell, no one wanted to discuss that, or at least report what he had to say about it.

No, it was his refusal to simply say "yes" when asked whether he ...

Updated: Wed Aug 06, 2008

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A Peaceful Convention for 08/08/2008

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I know Hillary Clinton. She is a friend of mine. I have always respected her — and never more than during the closing days of this campaign, when she displayed a level of grit and determination I have rarely seen in any politician, male or female, Democrat or Republican.

Hillary is many things: smart, strong-willed, disciplined, determined and, yes, ambitious. She wanted to be pres ...

Updated: Fri Aug 08, 2008

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Howard's End for 08/13/2008

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

You can blame John Edwards for a lot of things, but the last thing anyone should be blaming him for is the nomination of Barack Obama. Howard Wolfson, Hillary Clinton's former communications director, made headlines last week when he told ABCNews.com, and anyone else who asked, that Hillary would be the nominee if Edwards had 'fessed up, or been exposed, earlier on. "I believe we would hav ...

Updated: Wed Aug 13, 2008

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Mime Time for 08/15/2008

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

"The reason was for the national interest," the chief music director of the ongoing Beijing Olympics told Beijing Radio. "The child on camera should be flawless in image, internal feelings and expression. Lin Miaoke is excellent in those aspects. But in the aspect of voice, Yang Peiyi is flawless."

So you tell one girl that she doesn't sing well enough and the other t ...

Updated: Fri Aug 15, 2008

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Leroy Sievers for 08/20/2008

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

My friend Leroy Sievers died on Friday night. I considered him a friend, but the truth is I never actually met him. I read his "My Cancer" blog on npr.com every day, and although I was never one of the many to post comments there, I read those, too, and considered the regulars to be my friends.

Leroy was a brave and distinguished journalist: He covered wars, went to dangerous p ...

Updated: Wed Aug 20, 2008

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Courage for 08/22/2008

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Political courage is not about standing up for what's easy and popular with the people who elect you. It's about standing up for what you believe in.

Stephanie Tubbs Jones believed in Hillary Clinton. She believed Hillary was the most qualified, most able candidate running for president. So did half of the Democrats in Congress, but it was a much easier choice for most of them.

Tu ...

Updated: Fri Aug 22, 2008

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The Senator for 08/27/2008

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

All last week there were rumors that he would not make it to Denver at all. Then on Monday there were rumors that he was in a Denver hospital receiving oxygen, and that at best he would be in a box at Pepsi Center, watching the tribute and waving to the crowd. He'll never make it to the podium, more than one person told me. They don't know the Senator.

I worked for him nearly 30 years ag ...

Updated: Wed Aug 27, 2008

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Great Speeches for 08/29/2008

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Hillary gave a great speech. Bill gave a great speech. Barack gave a really great speech. That's what everyone is saying, and who am I to disagree? Of course, I've never been to a convention, Republican or Democratic, where everybody didn't say on Thursday night that it was a really great speech. Truth is, I can barely remember most of them.

The question is whether it matters.

It ...

Updated: Fri Aug 29, 2008

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Sarah's Choice for 09/03/2008

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

My first reaction to the choice of Sarah Palin was that she is no Hillary Clinton. I give her credit for her drive and determination, her willingness to take on special interests and her sheer guts in challenging the Republican establishment of her state. But less than two years as governor? And before that, mayor of a city of about 7,000? Would any man with such a thin resume have made it to t ...

Updated: Wed Sep 03, 2008

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The Big 5-0 for 09/05/2008

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

He hit it this week. The big 5-0. No, I'm not referring to the age — an age that, whatever anyone says, is not the new 30. It's still 50. It's something no one I know looks forward to unless they are ill and afraid they won't make it that far.

The big 5-0 in politics is different. Fifty-percent means that you have, at least at that moment, in that snapshot, assuming the polls are a ...

Updated: Fri Sep 05, 2008

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Don't Blame Oprah for 09/10/2008

Wed, 10 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Poor Oprah. Of course, Oprah is not poor by anyone's definition (we should all be so poor), but she found herself between a rock and a hard place on the question of whether to invite the newest, and right now probably the biggest, celebrity in the world on her show. To do Sarah or not to do Sarah? No good answer.

Of course, the ratings would be huge. And when someone in the entertainment ...

Updated: Wed Sep 10, 2008

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Say It Ain't So, Joe for 09/12/2008

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Sometimes Joe Biden, bless his good intentions, doesn't know when to stop. I won't recount past instances of this — I'll leave that to the RNC — but the most recent is a painful example of what happens when a short answer will do and you give a long-winded one instead.

At a rally in New Hampshire, a questioner actually expressed his pleasure that Barack Obama had chosen Biden ...

Updated: Fri Sep 12, 2008

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First Dude for 09/17/2008

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

First Dude. That's what they call him in Alaska. It's OK. Todd's Ok. Whatever. He smiles at Greta Van Susteren. Not a touch of noblesse. More like plan old politesse. I always laugh a little when I see people who are very much not ordinary Americans in any respect (pay, fame, education or overall wealth, for starters) try to speak for them. "This is what ordinary Americans want," says ...

Updated: Wed Sep 17, 2008

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Remembering Charlie Whitebread for 09/19/2008

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

He filled the room with laughter and learning. A light went on when he came in. He taught thousands and thousands of students each year: law students at USC Law; undergrads who filled his class on Law and Society; and legions of would-be lawyers on the bar review circuit, where he was a living legend.

There was only one Charlie, and we lost him on Tuesday.

Charles Whitebread was a ...

Updated: Fri Sep 19, 2008

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George Bush's Final Moment for 09/24/2008

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

It takes a major crisis for a lame duck president, especially one whose popularity is as low as George W. Bush's, to take center stage during a hard-fought presidential campaign. It takes a major crisis for members of Congress, who as a group may be even less popular than the president, to find themselves still in Washington so close to Election Day, with important work to do before they can go ...

Updated: Wed Sep 24, 2008

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Remembering Alcee Hastings for 09/26/2008

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0700

Alcee Hastings used to be a federal judge. Then he got impeached by the House and convicted by the Senate. Now he's a congressman from Florida. People have a right to vote for whomever they want, even one of the six federal judges in America ever to be removed by Congress.

But with friends like Hastings making the case for him, Barack Obama doesn't need enemies.

Participating in a ...

Updated: Fri Sep 26, 2008

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Profiles in Cowardice for 10/01/2008

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

If you didn't know it, you'd never guess that 95 percent of all House members get re-elected every two years without breaking a sweat. You'd never think that the hardest thing about the House of Representatives is getting in. You probably wouldn't believe that while 90 percent of the American public disapproves of the Congress as a whole, almost as many think that their own representative is th ...

Updated: Wed Oct 01, 2008

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A Heartbeat Away for 10/03/2008

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

For all the Republicans' complaints about Gwen Ifill, the moderator's questions were softballs compared to what Sarah Palin faced from Katie Couric. Ifill did not demand that Palin list (OK, how about just name more than one?) Supreme Court decisions. She did not push on the issue of foreign policy experience. She didn't follow up on how it is that Americans who get dropped from the health insu ...

Updated: Fri Oct 03, 2008

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A Great Line for 10/08/2008

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 00:00:00 -0700

I'm happy to give my friend Madeleine Albright credit for the line, as Starbucks apparently has. But the truth is I've been using it for years in speeches to women about how we need to help each other get ahead in business, politics and academia. Katie Couric quoted it a year or so ago in a commencement speech, giving me the credit for it. And yes, in my version, it's not just about women " ...

Updated: Wed Oct 08, 2008

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