Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
In this past week of very important news - when the president presided over the memorial service for the slain soldiers of Fort Hood and departed on his first Asia trip, and the attorney general made the controversial decision to treat the mastermind terrorist of 9/11 as a criminal to be tried in a Manhattan civilian courtroom - the story of the departure of longtime CNN anchor Lou Dobbs still jumped out.
CNN did its usual first-rate job of covering those other stories, but the Dobbs departure is still somewhat of a mystery. It is a hard story to cover, because Lou is family. And it's far more than a story about changing anchors. It's a story about the direction of the "news business" and cable television's role in that business.
Lou Dobbs is the last of the original news anchors hired by Ted Turner; he started with CNN in 1980. Over the past 30 years, he has been one of the stars and certainly one of the biggest names in the cable news business. As was obvious to anyone who watched or knew Lou personally, he was a big personality who edited and ran his own show.
He evolved over that period from a mainstream Republican who was an expert on the business world to an independent who represented the anger and plight of the working class. His resignation Wednesday caught nearly everybody by surprise, including his staff and certainly his viewers.
Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the 11th day of the month as the first commemoration of Armistice Day.
It was the first anniversary of the end of the "Great War" and it was hoped we would never go into battle again. Unfortunately that is not how history turned out. The "Great War" became known as World War I. Many conflicts followed. Many more Americans went to war and many gave up their lives.
November 11 was renamed to honor our veterans in 1954 by one of America's greatest military leaders, 34th President Dwight David Eisenhower.
How strange that on the very eve of this day, President Obama was addressing a memorial service for the slain soldiers of last week's massacre at Fort Hood before the thousands of men and women who served with them on the Army's largest military base.
The president is the commander in chief and the task of sending young men and women into combat is the most serious duty he bears. As he ponders the decision to send more troops to Afghanistan, he saw the men and women of our Army up close. These are the soldiers who will be part of whatever decision he makes. And they are fabulous soldiers ready for whatever duty he requests of them.
Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
Matthew Hoh, a young man previously unknown to the general public, has become the first U.S. official known to resign in protest over the Afghan war. He was the senior U.S. civilian adviser in Zabul province, Afghanistan.
There certainly have been more famous resignations over a president's war policy. President Lyndon Johnson's first secretary of health, education and welfare and the architect of much of the civil rights and Great Society programs, John Gardner, resigned because he could not support the war in Vietnam and privately told the president he could not support him for re-election.
LBJ's Deputy Secretary of Defense Cyrus Vance resigned after becoming convinced the war in Vietnam, which he had strongly supported initially, was unwinnable. After his resignation he unsuccessfully urged Johnson not to bomb North Vietnam.
Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
My mother died last week. Mary Elizabeth Rollins was 91 and had lived a glorious and full life.
As I was flying to California for her funeral, I read the Time magazine cover story written by my friend, the superb writer Nancy Gibbs, titled, "The State of the American Woman." This article no doubt was inspired by a fascinating new report released last week: The Shriver Report, "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything," sponsored by California's first lady and former news reporter Maria Shriver and the Center for American Progress, a Washington think tank.
To quote from the report: This is not just a women's story. This is a report about how women becoming half of the nation's workers "changes everything" for men, women, and their families.
Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
Since its debut on October 11, 1975, "Saturday Night Live" has spoofed, ridiculed and hammered presidents and other political figures without regard to political affiliation or any other sensitivities.
The perfect parroting of Sarah Palin after her vice president nomination, by the immensely talented Tina Fey, started the downward spiraling of the governor. People started looking at her in a different light, and she was judged as a less serious candidate.
Saturday's skit portraying President Obama as a man who made a lot of promises and hasn't been able to fulfill many - if any - has been analyzed over and over with a constant rerun of the "SNL" clip.
In the comedy skit, the president is asked about unrealized campaign promises, including closing Gitmo, combating global warming, allowing openly gay people to serve in the military, withdrawing from Iraq, improving the status of the fight in Afghanistan, reforming health care and several others. On screen the response on a check list was: that each item was "not done."
Ed Rollins
CNN Senior Political Contributor
The president had his first foray into the byzantine world of U.N. politics last week and walked away cheered on by the anti-America crowd.
He appeased the delegations led by tyrants and petty dictatorships by condemning President Bush and spelling out how his administration is going to be different.
President Obama was applauded by Castro, Chavez, and Gadhafi (no friends of ours) when he said he wanted a "new era of engagement in the world." Are either of those three dictators going to be better world citizens or kinder, gentler leaders as a result of Obama's outreach? Put me in the doubtful column.
No American president has ever stood before the U.N. body and condemned his predecessor or American foreign policy in such a way. President Bush, like every president before him made some mistakes, but he did not deserve this put down. And let's not forget America was attacked on September 11, 2001, and thousands of American lives were lost. President Bush and his team got us through all that and kept us safe for the rest of his terms. And I hope Mr. Obama realizes the "haters" of America are still out there.
Ed Rollins
CNN
On the international stage, this week is President Obama's most important since taking office.
He arrived in New York on Monday and by the time he finishes chairing the Global Conference of 20 (world leaders) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, this weekend he will have earned his pay check (not that a president doesn't earn it every week).
Unfortunately, the president stepped on his international story over the weekend when news surfaced that the White House had informed New York's Gov. David Paterson not to run for re-election and signaled that the White House wants Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to replace him.
Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor
The president is making a major address to the Congress and the country Wednesday night. This speech is high risk for him.
Selling a plan that is not completely developed and without accurate numbers of what it's going to cost ordinary Americans is not a surefire recipe for success.
This is not a campaign speech. The president does campaign speeches well and obviously they worked for him in the past. I am sure President Obama and his team have already found out that governing is a lot harder than campaigning. So this is speech should be about facts. Mr. President:
Leave out the emotion and the polarizing comments about how bad the insurance companies are and how doctors and hospitals are ripping us off.
Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor
The political arena is an emptier place today. A brave and courageous warrior has left the battlefield. He will not be quickly forgotten or replaced.
With the death of Sen. Ted Kennedy, a political dynasty comes to an end. His idealism and his legislative accomplishments will live on and another generation will be inspired by his life's works, but for the foreseeable future there will be no one like Ted Kennedy in the Senate or on the national stage. And no one on the horizon is there to take his place. Not even President Obama.
The great liberal Lion of the Senate has roared his last howl and American politics will be much less for his passing.
I say this as a Republican and a Reagan conservative who opposed most of what Ted Kennedy spent his entire life trying to accomplish. But he was first and foremost a worthy opponent who with the help of his extraordinary Senate staff always came prepared.
Ed Rollins
CNN Contributor
My 14-year-old daughter graduated earlier this week from middle school (8th grade) and she begins high school in the fall. As I watched her and her classmates receive their diplomas, I reflected on the world they are going to inherit from us.
As with most fathers, there is nothing more important to me than my child. Lily is my only child and she blessedly came into my life as an infant by way of China. Like the children of many older fathers, she took on a disproportionate role in my consciousness.
Because I became a father after my days as a Washington power player were over - Lily never knew what I did and still doesn't, and couldn't care less - she had no competition for my time and attention. But as she became my focus, she also became my barometer. I looked at the world through the eyes of my child. And planning for her future is all-important.
As I look ahead four years to when Lily and her classmates will complete their high school education, we will have a much fuller picture of President Obama.
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