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March 30, 2007 2:34 PM

Katie Couric's Notebook: YouTube

Posted by Katie Couric
Hi everyone.

From Republican presidential contender Rudy Giuliani saying in 1989 that he supports public funding for abortion...to Democratic hopeful John Edwards spending an eternity styling his hair, the videos on YouTube are embarrassing the candidates -- and changing American politics.

But is it a change for the better?

Now, EVERY move from EVERY candidate is subject to scrutiny...and no mistake goes unpunished.

"The campaigns are no longer in control," says veteran political strategist Simon Rosenberg, and voters have the power not just to donate money, but to broadcast opposition research, and create their own negative advertising.

But voters also have a responsibility to judge these candidates fairly. To decide whether a candidate's position has changed for political reasons--or principled ones. To distinguish between unacceptable behavior...and acknowledging that everyone makes mistakes.

That's a page from my notebook.
Tags:
youtube ,
john edwards ,
rudy giuliani
Topics:
Katie's Notebook
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Add a Comment See all 15 Comments
by ericmichael1 April 2, 2007 6:21 PM EDT
Katherine Anne,

Back to the Question At Hand----

We can look at a Life in many ways:

a. A Quart of mistakes.

b. A Half-Gallon of mistakes.

c. A Full-Gallon of mistakes, or

d. All of the Above, at one time or another.

I don't know about you, but sometimes it seems like my container runneth-over.

Today, I took one more look at where my father's ashes will be scattered and realized that at the end of life, we examine more fully questions like these.

It is a beautiful beach. The waves are continuous there. Boats like the one my father fished in go up and down the coast. It is a great place to rest. There is no seat of judgment there.

I don't think of his mistakes there, or of my own either. Perhaps that is the way all men should live.

I will leave this place tomorrow, but I will remember the lessons I learned here.

Thank you, Katherine, for listening. Do you hear the sound of the waves?

Eric
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by forthepeaple April 2, 2007 11:16 AM EDT
well wake up america! Its a new world today? why you may ask? because it is time to put a end to our government.!! how you may ask? by this and i hope everyone listting. so get it out there anyway you can ok here goes, sence our own government doesn't want to follow our constitution or any other laws, we the people of this united states of america will not give or PAY ANY TYPE OF GOVERNMENT TAXES,WE WILL TELL OUR WORK PLACE TO CHANGE OUR DEDUCTION TO SAY 10 SO NO TAXES WILL COME OUT. TRY TO RUN THIS COUNTRY WITH NO MONEY COMMING IN..THIS IS THE ONLY WAY WE CAN STOP THE BLEEDING IN THIS COUNTRY..

I HOPE EVERY AMERICAN DOES EXECTLY WHAT I STATED HERE, GET THE WORD OUT
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by ericmichael1 April 1, 2007 10:37 PM EDT
Katie,

I wish that this thing had Spellcheck...

Katherine Ann---or Katherine Anne:

"A rose
by any other name
would smell
as sweet."

:)

Eric
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by ericmichael1 April 1, 2007 9:26 PM EDT
Katie,

"A man can be destroyed, but not defeated."

Ernest Hemingway
"The Old Man and the Sea"

My father could have identified with Santiago. He was a fisherman struggling for his life, and he struggled until the End, until he knew that the sharks had made too much progress. He always loved a good fight with a marlin. He lived a rough life as he saw fit, and was undoubtedly influenced by those of "The Lost Generation" (like Hemingway).

Sometimes I think that We are the new Lost Generation, Katherine. The world is not black and white as it was in our youth. And we have jousted with too many windmills.

And yet, I also see that many true evils still exist in this world that will threaten our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Jihadists, Global Warming, Depletion of the Ozone, Crime, the decline of Morality---- Perhaps we need to continue the ride and the battle a little more.

The changes my father saw in his 82 years: the rise and fall of fascism and Japanese militancy, the fall of communism, the jet age, the space age... Would he have thought it possible in his youth? Does our Lost Generation think it is possible for this country and this world to continue on just one more fragile century?

Yet he did make it his 82 years.

"A man (and, truly, a woman as well) can be destroyed, but not defeated."

Keep up your smile, Katherine. The sun must rise.

Eric
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by petersemkiw April 1, 2007 4:08 PM EDT
Dear Katie...including a visit to one of the many designated United Nations World Heritage Sites is also an interesting vacation idea...
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by petersemkiw April 1, 2007 3:16 PM EDT
Dear Katie,
"Absence makes the heart grow fonder"
Eleanor Roosevelt

---and I have the red hot CHILE peppers to prove it!!

PS. By the way, as a point of interest, the Roman poet Sextus Propertius gave us the earliest form of this saying!
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by ericmichael1 March 31, 2007 8:53 PM EDT
Katie,

Whether Democratic, Republican, Independent or Neutral, this applies:

"It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat."

Theodore Roosevelt
"Citizenship in a Republic,"
Speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23, 1910

Eric
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by airmanc5 March 31, 2007 6:39 PM EDT
You will not put Wind Turbines in my back yard says Ted Kennedy, As wind power get closer to a reality on Cape Cod. And thats a page from my notebook.
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by ronmwanga March 31, 2007 2:48 AM EDT
This level of transparency can be a good thing to an intrepid democrat (small "d" democrat) who uses youtube and the variety of 24-cable reports to make an informed choice. But, of course, there is the flip-side. On Sunday, during a slow news day, the "information" can devolve into "Chatter," the lowest, most meaningless form of discourse. The "Maccaca" video of George Allen exposed his true feelings on race better than any of the dozens of news reports on his Confederate flag advocacy and "eccentric" -- some might say racist -- language. But there was never any proof of THAT Virginia Senator. He was on his way to making a credible run for the Presidency. Un til YouTube. For that, I am thankful.
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by ericmichael1 March 31, 2007 12:13 AM EDT
What has happened to Trueness?

Npt Powell. not Bush's, not Gore's,

but Trueness?

Eric
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by shedhouserob-2009 March 30, 2007 11:35 PM EDT
Katie-
Every since you put that far right radical on your program Limballs ( a good democrat is a dead democrat) I've had no use for you. the good republicans- Abe, Teddy, Barry, Ike, Jerry never went for this far right corporate b.s... If we would be lucky enough to get Colin Powell to run then we would have someone that cared about America and the americans. Not republicans or democrats.
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by beckyib March 30, 2007 10:28 PM EDT
Seems to me that some of the YouTube videos have no bearing on policy. Therefore, some should not have any relevance on a decision for whom we should vote.

Stating publicly that you support a public issue or not is certainly appropriate for voting decisions. That is an excellent use of YouTube as 'historical record.'

However, candidate John Edwards combing his hair is just a personal foible. My husband does something similar, but his thoughts are a million miles away. It's a meditative exercise for him.

Let us try to resist making assumptions based on a single personal habit. Rather we should pay attention to the substance of a person as revealed by their record.
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by ericmichael1 March 30, 2007 10:19 PM EDT
Katie is without a doubt one of the most real anchors seen since Cronkite. There are definately no crayons in her drawer.

I believe it is a shame that we still in this country voice opinions that are so gender-centric. And other-centric, also.

Continue to say things from the heart, Katherine Ann.

I will, also. Even if we cannot agree. But, unlike these men, I will be courteous, dignified, and heart-felt at the same time. Like you.

Eric
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by zaxtracks March 30, 2007 9:49 PM EDT
Does Katie use crayons when writing in Katie Couric's Notebook? It's hard to imagine her using a pen, except for maybe one of those novelty pens that kids love.
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by petersemkiw March 30, 2007 8:57 PM EDT
Dear Katie, I'm going to have red hot chili peppers all next week!
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