Ten Years Is A Long Time

Each week, CBS News Chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer closes Face The Nation with a commentary.

'Way back then George Bush was president and Bill Clinton was governor and thinking about running for something else.

We've had three presidential elections and what do you know: There's still a George Bush in the White House and Bill Clinton — well, everybody says he's thinking of running for something else. And, there's a Clinton in the Senate too.

My guest that long ago Sunday was Dan Rostenkowski, powerful chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. He's a TV news analyst these days, with a bad patch in between.

Ten years is a long time.

We've seen the House and Senate go from Democrat to Republican and then watched the Senate go to equal parts of both.

We said goodbye to Newt, hello to Little Elian, got to know Ken Starr and got to know Monica and Paula better than maybe we wanted to know them. What about a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for straight folks?

And then there was the nightmare election night and hanging chads. Good grief! It has been awhile.

Looking back it has reinforced what I have always believed: You can't predict the news but if you tell people the news, they'll figure out what to do about it, because Americans are a people of great resilience, patience and, yes, they have a saving sense of humor.

Thanks for having us all these Sundays. It is a pleasure to share the news with you.

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