U.S. Must Lead By Example

Weekly commentary by CBS Evening News anchor and Face the Nation host Bob Schieffer.

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It irritated all of us last week when two of the world's leading blowhards — President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and the leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, insulted America and its leaders.

But it was probably a good thing for us because the more the world sees and hears these two, the quicker they will understand just how awful they — and what they represent — are.

With every appearance, the Iranian President reminds us that in a movie about Hitler, he'd be the perfect "Mini-Me" for the Nazi dictator and I doubt there is much of a market for Nazism anymore, no matter how much some people resent the United States.

And speaking of movies, the more you hear Chavez, the more you realize this guy wouldn't be a credible villain in a Batman flick.

Sure we have to keep an eye on them, but the way to hurt their cause is to keep encouraging them to show the world how they do things and let the world compare it to our way.

That's why it was so important that while they were blowing off, Senator McCain and the White House came together on a plan that insures America will abide by the Geneva Conventions in dealing with enemy prisoners.

It's not a perfect plan, but it shows how we do things in a democracy — out in the open — and in accordance with the law even when dealing with the worst of the worst.

We'll never win a battle for hearts and minds by preaching. We do it by showing who we are and inviting the other side to do the same.

[noisemaker2]

funny that bob violated your rules of engagement

Your rule "no comparing anyone to Hitler, Stalin or Pol Pot."

Bob's words "With every appearance, the Iranian President reminds us that in a movie about Hitler, he'd be the perfect "Mini-Me" for the Nazi dictator and I doubt there is much of a market for Nazism anymore"

Bob has no shame

[thomasbetz]

u have a personal axes to grind here, and you need to disclose them. For example, I've never heard you disclose on CBS that you were Bush's golfing buddy back in his Texas governor days.

I've never heard you disclose that your brother Tom Schieffer was a general partner with Dubya of the Texas Rangers, and was enriched along with Bush by the Curtis Mathes eminent domain scandal; nor have I heard you disclose that your brother is presently the Bush-appointed Ambassador to Japan.

It comes down to this: Bob, you have a lot of conflicts of interest (conflicts of interest that you should mention, but do not mention, during your commentaries) when you talk about your pal George W. Bush.

It is my opinion that you are allowing your personal relationship with the President to blind you to his maladministration's many crimes. It is also my opinion that you are wrongly conflating George W. Bush with the United States. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez were NOT insulting the United States. Both have gone out of their way to praise the people of the United States; Hugo Chavez has gone out of his way to help the poor people of the United States, when the Republicans in the White House and in Congress refused to do so.

Ahmadinejad and Chavez were insulting (and properly so) the President of the United States, by telling the bald, sad truth about him.

You would do well to take off your blinders and do likewise.

[thomasbetz]

Bob, I think you have a personal axes to grind here, and you need to disclose them. For example, I've never heard you disclose on CBS that you were Bush's golfing buddy back in his Texas governor days.

I've never heard you disclose that your brother Tom Schieffer was a general partner with Dubya of the Texas Rangers, and was enriched along with Bush by the Curtis Mathes eminent domain scandal; nor have I heard you disclose that your brother is presently the Bush-appointed Ambassador to Japan.

It comes down to this: Bob, you have a lot of conflicts of interest (conflicts of interest that you should mention, but do not mention, during your commentaries) when you talk about your pal George W. Bush.

It is my opinion that you are allowing your personal relationship with the President to blind you to his maladministration's many crimes. It is also my opinion that you are wrongly conflating George W. Bush with the United States. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez were NOT insulting the United States.

They were insulting (and properly so) the President of the United States, by telling the bald, sad truth about him.

You would do well to take off your blinders and do likewise.

[noisemaker2]

To use the current debate on the degree to which we will torture people as a shinig example of our democratic process is as wrong headed as I can possibly imagine. We are debating what to do with prisoners from prisons our leader was very recently saying didn't even exist at all. This was a man who said at a press conference that the phrase "human dignity" was "vague". The agreement that has been arrived at through one party negotiations gives him the ability to decide what a breach is and finally absolves he and his minions of any culpability in a court of law retroactively. This is no example of the democratic process at work. Bob you should be ashamed of yourself. I am ashamed of you.

[tinaferg]

Bob -- To me the point of all this is the depth to which the US's image has sunk. Yes, it's a good thing for us to do things out in the open, but starting to do so now cannot hope to dissolve instantly the impression the Bush administration has been giving of secrecy, condonation of torture, and disregard for law such as treaties and our Constitution. Bob, I'm afraid you came off sounding like the administration's press secretary.

[jenksmarkymaypo]

That is one of the nice things about our democracy. Freedom of speech. But it seems to me that a lot of these comments are written by people other then Americans.
Bob, it looks like you have some not-so-nice readers!

[themuser]

Schieffer has got it wrong about who the real "blowhards" are! Bush and his idiotic racist followers are the real blow hards, along with that ethnocentric republican robot Schieffer. American Patriot Le Sage

[vipaka]

Leading by example to me is taking care of issues central to this country and not issues central to other countries.

[cbs_oliver]

It's good to know where you stand Bob.

The most important part of your message was your support for the new GOP torture protocol. This outrage makes George Bush the "decider" of US law and attempts to overrule constitutional rights and assignements of powers to the people, congress, and judiciary.

In practical terms McCain, like Specter, is turning out to be just another Quisling engaged in subtle undermining of the US constitution - effectively seeking to overthrow our system of government. This is called sedition. Even when alot of people support it.

You should reconsider.

[bklemm1941]

Bob. On your program, you left out some key information. You claimed this administration has been open for all to see, when in fact this Bush administration has been secretly spying on its own people and boldly lying about it.
During a speech on Buffalo, NY on April 20, 2004, Mr. Bush said: %u201CAny time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires--a wire tap--it requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we%u2019re talking about chasing down terrorists, were talking about getting a court order before we do so.%u201D The illegal, secret wire taps were happening!
Contrary to your claim, our government has not been open. Remember the SECRET CIA prisons? Torture was being used in these secret prisons! This government was not open about their activities. Both of these had to be disclosed by the press after people of conscience could no longer stand what this administrations secret activities.
Any objective observer would agree with Chavez and with Ahmadinejad. This administration is imposing their will on peoples of the world. They are cynical in their claim of doing it in the name of freedom and democracy; look how they are doing it. Chavez is correct; in fact we are trying to impose our will at the end of a gun, with bombs and with the sword.
Frankly, in your nationalistic zeal to counter the effect of the UN speeches, you sound like a pawn of this administration and are not being truthful in your comments.