Bob Schieffer seems like a genuinely nice guy -- nice enough to actually be glad Katie Couric is coming on board at CBS (did I mention that he's soon to retire from CBS...?) So it was a carefree, breezy Schieffer who took questions recently at Drew University. Here's a glimpse into Schieffer's mind:
On Katie Couric:
Schieffer, 69, who has garnered strong reviews since replacing Dan Rather in an interim capacity 13 months ago, said Couric will be "a perfect fit" at CBS.
Schieffer said he admired Couric both personally and professionally. He spoke of his mother, widowed at age 45 with three children, and noted that the same fate had befallen Couric, a mother of two, at age 42.
Couric, he said, will be a "role model for the people at CBS."
On Don Rumsfeld:
Schieffer said he wasn't sure that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, under fire for his handling of the war in Iraq, would endure much longer in his post. He didn't put much stock in President Bush's recent declaration of support for Rumsfeld.
"It was also this president who said, 'Brownie, you're doing a heckuva job,'and that was just before Brownie got canned," Schieffer said, referring to former FEMA Director Michael Brown.
On the Iraq war:
Much like retired CBS anchor Walter Cronkite -- who famously criticized the Vietnam War on-air after initially giving it robust support -- Schieffer was not optimistic about U.S. prospects in Iraq.
"I'm very pessimistic about this thing right now," said Schieffer, an Austin, Tex. native who had supported Bush's decision to order the invasion in 2003.
On U.S. elections and the people they put in office:
Schieffer expressed frustration with the Electoral College, which he said should be modified -- perhaps with one vote per Congressional district. He chastised a Congress that "never really attacks head-on the major issues that are facing the country," such as the immigration debate.
<%
dim done
done = request.form("done")
if done = "" then
done = "No"
%>
Tell a friend
<%
Else
if request.form("done") = "Yes" then
'sets variables
dim email, sendmail
email = request.form("email")
Set sendmail = Server.CreateObject("CDONTS.NewMail")
'put the webmaster address here
sendmail.From = "webmaster@aspbasics.com"
'The mail is sent to the address entered in the previous page.
sendmail.To = email
'Enter the subject of your mail here
sendmail.Subject = "Check out this website"
'send a specific page or send a site url
dim url
'url = Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
url = "http://www.aspbasics.net"
'This is the content of the message.
sendmail.Body = "Site recommendation from a friend!" & _
vbCrlf & vbCrlf & "A friend has sent you this email and thought you would should check out this site." & _
vbCrlf & url & vbCrlf
'this sets mail priority.... 0=low 1=normal 2=high
sendmail.Importance = 1
sendmail.Send 'Send the email!
response.redirect Request.ServerVariables("HTTP_REFERER")
'Response.write ("Sent to ") & email
End if
End if
%>
"[T]he practice of arbitrary imprisonments, have been, in all ages, the favorite and most formidable instruments of tyranny.' Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 84, August, 1788
