My Turn At The Bully Pulpit

Welcome to the bully pulpit where opinions fly but common sense rules. Here’s where you’ll find straight talk about the most pressing issues of the day, all delivered in the trademark commonsense style of one of America’s most popular and admired television news anchors. Always resisting the political label that attempts to place people in one ideological camp or another, Greta Van Susteren speaks from the mind and the heart, not as a liberal or a conservative, but as a right-thinking, sensible citizen. “Our country is at a critical juncture,” she writes, and “too many of us are caught up in old definitions of left and right that no longer apply. If I favor the death penalty in some cases, does that make me right-wing? If I think hate crimes legislation is stupid, does that make me a conservative? If I happen to like and enjoy Ozzy Osbourne and have him on my show, does that make me a liberal? And if I believe that corporations should be held accountable if their products harm citizens and they should be subject to the rulings of a jury—ditto for doctors who commit medical malpractice—does that make me a lefty trial lawyer?” Here’s more of Greta in her own words: On the military: Liberty isn’t free. As a nation, we must provide for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. That means good pay, adequate funding for defense, and our heartfelt support. Vietnam was a very long time ago. We Baby Boomers have to wake up and realize that today’s military is a different military from the one we grew up with, and we are fighting a very different war. Patriotism is not a conservative or a liberal thing. Patriotism, as far as I am concerned, is the duty and obligation of every American. On the Supreme Court: There should be a litmus test for Supreme Court and federal court judges, and that test should be their opinion about allowing public access to court proceedings. Let cameras inside the courthouse, or at least allow an audio feed to radio. What are they hiding? On the death penalty: It should be legal and available to courts and juries . . . but it should be used extremely rarely, and only when we are absolutely certain that a fair trial has taken place. On how you look: It’s your business and nobody else’s. Your looks and your life are not a democracy—not everybody gets a vote. Make your appearance and your choices a totalitarian regime—you are the boss. On fun: It isn’t a curse word. It’s actually quite serious business, as it makes the hard times livable and the sad times bearable. Fun should be part of a work environment, too. Stuffed shirts and snobs who can’t stop and laugh at themselves should be banished! In Greta’s company you’re guaranteed to get a fresh dose of common sense and a good hearty rant on many of the most important issues we face today. One more guarantee: you’ll have some good fun while you’re at it.

Welcome to the bully pulpit where opinions fly but common sense rules. Here's where you'll find straight talk about the most pressing issues of the day, all delivered in the trademark commonsense style of one of America's most popular and admired television news anchors. Always resisting the political label that attempts to place people in one ideological camp or another, Greta Van Susteren speaks from the mind and the heart, not as a liberal or a conservative, but as a right-thinking, sensible citizen. "Our country is at a critical juncture," she writes, and "too many of us are caught up in old definitions of left and right that no longer apply. If I favor the death penalty in some cases, does that make me right-wing? If I think hate crimes legislation is stupid, does that make me a conservative? If I happen to like and enjoy Ozzy Osbourne and have him on my show, does that make me a liberal? And if I believe that corporations should be held accountable if their products harm citizens and they should be subject to the rulings of a jury--ditto for doctors who commit medical malpractice--does that make me a lefty trial lawyer?" Here's more of Greta in her own words: On the military: Liberty isn't free. As a nation, we must provide for the men and women who put their lives on the line for us. That means good pay, adequate funding for defense, and our heartfelt support. Vietnam was a very long time ago. We Baby Boomers have to wake up and realize that today's military is a different military from the one we grew up with, and we are fighting a very different war. Patriotism is not a conservative or a liberal thing. Patriotism, as far as I am concerned, is the duty and obligation ofevery American. On the Supreme Court: There should be a litmus test for Supreme Court and federal court judges, and that test should be their opinion about allowing public access to court proceedings. Let cameras inside the courthouse, or at least allow an audio feed to radio. What are they hiding? On the death penalty: It should be legal and available to courts and juries . . . but it should be used extremely rarely, and only when we are absolutely certain that a fair trial has taken place. On how you look: It's your business and nobody else's. Your looks and your life are not a democracy--not everybody gets a vote. Make your appearance and your choices a totalitarian regime--you are the boss. On fun: It isn't a curse word. It's actually quite serious business, as it makes the hard times livable and the sad times bearable. Fun should be part of a work environment, too. Stuffed shirts and snobs who can't stop and laugh at themselves should be banished! In Greta's company you're guaranteed to get a fresh dose of common sense and a good hearty rant on many of the most important issues we face today. One more guarantee: you'll have some good fun while you're at it.

Pulitzer Prize–winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s dynamic history of Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft and the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. Winner of the Carnegie Medal. Doris Kearns Goodwin’s The Bully Pulpit is a dynamic history of the first decade of the Progressive era, that tumultuous time when the nation was coming unseamed and reform was in the air. The story is told through the intense friendship of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft—a close relationship that strengthens both men before it ruptures in 1912, when they engage in a brutal fight for the presidential nomination that divides their wives, their children, and their closest friends, while crippling the progressive wing of the Republican Party, causing Democrat Woodrow Wilson to be elected, and changing the country’s history. The Bully Pulpit is also the story of the muckraking press, which arouses the spirit of reform that helps Roosevelt push the government to shed its laissez-faire attitude toward robber barons, corrupt politicians, and corporate exploiters of our natural resources. The muckrakers are portrayed through the greatest group of journalists ever assembled at one magazine—Ida Tarbell, Ray Stannard Baker, Lincoln Steffens, and William Allen White—teamed under the mercurial genius of publisher S.S. McClure. Goodwin’s narrative is founded upon a wealth of primary materials. The correspondence of more than four hundred letters between Roosevelt and Taft begins in their early thirties and ends only months before Roosevelt’s death. Edith Roosevelt and Nellie Taft kept diaries. The muckrakers wrote hundreds of letters to one another, kept journals, and wrote their memoirs. The letters of Captain Archie Butt, who served as a personal aide to both Roosevelt and Taft, provide an intimate view of both men. The Bully Pulpit, like Goodwin’s brilliant chronicles of the Civil War and World War II, exquisitely demonstrates her distinctive ability to combine scholarly rigor with accessibility. It is a major work of history—an examination of leadership in a rare moment of activism and reform that brought the country closer to its founding ideals.

This book explores how presidents use speeches to shape and influence public policy. Each chapter examines a selected speech delivered by every president from Roosevelt through Barack Obama to show how language has been instrumental in directing policy.

The popular television journalist reflects on such issues as corporate greed, the death penalty, the legal system, gay marriage, plastic surgery, and other topics.

Whether you’re is a college junior facing the LSATs, a senior sitting with disappointing test scores, or someone who has always dreamed of a career in the law, there is too much at stake not to ask the hard questions about what lies ahead. In How to Get Into Law School, Susan Estrich lends her unique point of view and far-ranging experience-as ace law student, tenured professor, renowned legal scholar and analyst-to the life and career questions applicants will face, and answers them in the frank, no-nonsense manner that is her trademark. Featuring anecdotes from admissions directors, professors, veteran attorneys, and adventurous students alike, this is your indispensable how-to guide.

This is a detailed account of a run for state legislature and encounters with voters, party officials, incumbents, and fellow candidates as well as job seekers, handout seekers, axe grinders, clergy, and the religious faithful. Are you considering a run for office? Can you answer why should they vote for you? Can you say, "No," and still get their vote? Do you know how we have gotten to this point? Why the system works the way it does? And why the various positions are held? Do you enjoy endless meetings, hand shaking, and log rolling? This account can help you answer these questions and know if politics is the game for you.

America Alone explores how George W. Bush's election, and the fear and confusion of September 11, 2001, combined to allow a small group of radical intellectuals to seize the reins of US national security policy. It shows how, at this 'inflection point' in US history an inexperienced president was persuaded to abandon his campaign pledges (and the successful consensus-driven, bi-partisan diplomacy that managed the lethal Soviet threat over the past half-century) and adopt a neo-conservative foreign policy emphasizing military confrontation and 'nation-building'. To date, the costs - in blood, money and credibility - have been great and the benefits few, with traditional conservatives deploring Bush's approach. America Alone outlines the costs in terms of economic damage, distortion of priorities, rising anti-Americanism, and reduced security. Then it sets out an alternative approach emphasizing the traditional conservative principles of containing risk, consensus diplomacy and balance of power.