I will always be proud of serving in the administration of George W. Bush

Tuesday, 09 November 2010 11:35

COMMENTARY

I have little doubt that future historians will ultimately judge our 43rd President, George W. Bush far more favorably than his contemporaries. The purpose of this column, however, is not to discuss his decisions or policies.

We senior officials in the administration of George W. Bush knew well his profound decency, his courage, his sensitivity, his integrity, his sincerity, and his remarkable humility for a person of his high stature in American society. These were qualities, however, that somehow he was unable to project in a State-of-the-Union address or in a major television speech before the nation. When you had an intimate one-on-one conversation with him or a meeting with him in a small group, it was another matter altogether.

Last night, however, in his televised conversation with Matt Lauer about his forthcoming book, Decision Points, I think at long last George W. Bush conveyed to the American public the qualities that we senior Bush 43 officials found so endearing. For me, it was a moment of enormous pride.

This is a former President who does not point fingers at somebody else for matters that went wrong during his administration. This is a former President who will answer any question about his administration forthrightly, without dissembling. Finally, this is a former President of true class who refuses to criticize his successor, Barack Obama, despite the latter's continuous denigration of President Bush that began literally on his first day in office.

As I listened to President Bush last night, I remembered the last time I saw him, Wednesday, January 7, 2009.

Bush administration appointees had been invited to Washington for a private farewell speech by the President. For me, this was also during a difficult emotional period of my life, and not just due to my impending departure as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA.

My wife, Lynne, was in New York University hospital, having undergone successful cancer surgery on January 5, 2009 that had saved her life. She insisted that I go to Washington, noting that her daughters could keep her company and take care of her needs during the brief period that I would be away.

Lynne was a major fan of George W. Bush for two reasons.

First, George W. Bush was a strong and unwavering supporter of the State of Israel. It is remarkable that the two Presidents who were the most supportive of Israel, Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush, were both from the state of Texas.

The second reason was something that had occurred some years before.

Lynne is a high school math teacher — a truly outstanding professional and master teacher. I had introduced her to President Bush years earlier by saying, "Lynne is a teacher." Without hesitation, he responded, "Thank you for being a teacher."

Teaching and nursing are two professions whose practitioners do an enormous amount of good for humanity. Yet these are perhaps the two most unappreciated professions.

So when George W. Bush said to Lynne those words, he made her a lifelong fan. His sincerity could not be doubted, and his commitment to the education of America's children was one of his paramount priorities.

Accordingly, with Lynne's blessing, I went to Washington to hear President George W. Bush say farewell to us who had served him. He was introduced by his press secretary Dana Perino, who wept as she concluded by saying, "he is also a wonderful man".

The George W. Bush we then heard was a man totally at peace with himself. He spoke with humor and pride, while acknowledging the areas where our administration had not succeeded. Yet he was without regret, because he knew, as he stated to Matt Lauer last night, that he had given his very best and honorable effort in office.

After the speech, I turned to a fellow administration official and expressed my frustration that George W. Bush had never been able to connect with the American public the way he had with us in the room that morning.

George W. Bush had the opportunity last night at long last to forge this connection with the American public. He made the most of it. Millions of Americans now know why those of us who served George W. Bush loved him. Indeed, outside of my faith and family, I am most proud in life of having served in the administration of a great American, George W. Bush.

Alan J. Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Region 2 EPA consists of the states of New York and New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and seven federally recognized Indian nations. He currently serves on the political science faculty of Monmouth University.

‘The Soprano State’ and the world of political documentary films

BY ALAN J. STEINBERG

COMMENTARY

We live in an era of ever changing political media. "Political media" are productions in support of a particular issue viewpoint or a political candidate.


When I first became an active player in political campaigns three decades ago, political media consisted primarily of direct mail and radio communications. Political television advertising was still in its infancy. In statewide races, you would see a smattering of thirty second television commercial spots near the end of a campaign. The negative aspects of these commercials were relatively muted as compared with those of today.


In this era, we are overwhelmed with a panoply of political media of remarkable sophistication, including the latest in websites and highly refined email campaigns. The effectiveness of political documentary films, a relatively recent genre, is based upon the ability to first attract a viewing audience and then hold its interest for as long as an hour and one half.


In terms of this test, I have little doubt that the movie, "The Soprano State, Part One" will achieve remarkable box office and artistic success, perhaps an Oscar award as well. The movie was based upon the book, "The Soprano State," authored by journalists Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure and published in 2008. I was honored to be invited to its world premiere last Monday evening, October 18, 2010, at the Ziegfeld Theatre in Manhattan, and I left with the feeling that I will watch this movie again and again.


The most noteworthy political documentary film of this era has been Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth." While that film was replete with factual errors, it did succeed in stimulating interest in the climate change issue. I have not seen the recently released film, "Waiting for Superman," which focuses on the alleged failures of the American education system. From what I have read, however, "Waiting for Superman," directed also by "An Inconvenient Truth" director Davis Guggenheim, has the potential of skyrocketing the national stature of Michelle Rhee, the soon to be departed Chancellor of the District of Columbia public school system. On a greater macro level, Superman may also deepen the widening rift within the Democratic Party between public employee unions and liberal reformers.


I believe that "The Soprano State" will attract a wider audience than either "An Inconvenient Truth" or "Waiting for Superman" for two reasons.


The first is the colorful nature of the subject: New Jersey political corruption. The widespread and diversified nature of political corruption in New Jersey hardly is a source of pride for Garden State residents. Yet there is no doubt that Americans both within and outside New Jersey are intrigued by the character of the corrupt actors and the nature of their crimes. The landmark HBO television series, "The Sopranos," attracted millions of loyal television viewers throughout the nation over the past decade, and their memories of this fictional series will serve to whet their appetites to see the non-fictional real life New Jersey characters and actual events.


The second reason for the film's success will be its deserved hero, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.


Even before he was elected Governor in November, 2009, Chris Christie had established himself as the finest U.S. Attorney in the history of New Jersey. His success in combating corruption far exceeded that of any previous law enforcement official in the Garden State. Not since New York's Thomas E. Dewey had any prosecutor in the Northeastern United States attracted such national attention.


As Governor, Christie's fiscal and education initiatives, together with his uniquely straightforward style, have resulted in his becoming the subject of speculation as a possible Presidential nominee. The Governor has made it abundantly clear that he will not be a Republican candidate for President or Vice President in 2012. Yet Christie is young enough to be a candidate at some future point, and "The Soprano State, Part One" will doubtless attract viewers eager to learn more about New Jersey's remarkable Governor.


The film artistically is first rate. The scenes are pieced together brilliantly, and the interviews with key New Jersey governmental and political figures reveal vividly the unique aspects of New Jersey's culture of corruption. Character actor Tony Darrow, known for his role in the HBO "Sopranos" is ideal as the narrator of the film.


Yet there were two aspects of the film that viewers at the Monday night premiere, including myself, found puzzling.


The first was the disparity between the book and the movie in the way former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli is portrayed. In the book, Ingle and McClure focus on allegations of Torricelli misconduct during his tenure as U.S. Senator. Yet no mention of these allegations is made in the movie. On the contrary, Torricelli is actually interviewed in the film regarding the reasons for New Jersey's culture of corruption. In this regard, he comes across in the movie as a virtual ethical sage, while the Torricelli of the book is an alleged ethical transgressor.


The second aspect is with regard to former state Senator and Assembly Speaker Joe Doria (D-Hudson). In the July, 2009 Corruption Thursday arrests, Doria's home was raided; yet he was never charged with any crime or ethical violation. The film makes mention of the raid and implies that Doria was guilty of something not disclosed. This appears to be an unjust depiction, especially when virtually every other subject of criticism in the movie, i.e. Sharpe James, Wayne Bryant, Jim Treffinger, Charles Kushner, et.als. was actually convicted of some crime. It does not seem fair to mention the uncharged Doria in the same context.


Withal, this movie is an artistic triumph and a film that will serve to increase citizen awareness and hopefully condemnation of the culture of corruption that has thrived in New Jersey for too long. Special kudos must be given to Steve Kalafer, the principal producer of this film. Kalafer is one of the finest, most civic motivated citizens of New Jersey I have met in my three decades in government and politics. In producing this film, he again contributed to the betterment of the quality of life in the Garden State.


So I do recommend that you see this movie. Do not be surprised if this film receives an Oscar for Best Documentary Film at the 2011 Oscars.

Alan J. Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Region 2 EPA consists of the states of New York and New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and seven federally recognized Indian nations. Under former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman, he served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

The U.S. Senate Races: Will the GOP Have a Lieberman Option?

By Alan Steinberg | October 24th, 2010 - 12:38pm

Nate Silver of the FiveThirtyEight Blog in the New York Times is considered by many to be America’s leading election forecaster.  He currently gives the Republicans a better than 50% chance of winning eight U.S. Senate seats currently held by Democrats, specifically in the following states:  Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, North Dakota, Colorado, and Nevada.

In the case of a ninth U.S. Senate seat currently held by the Democrats (West Virginia), Silver gives the GOP a fifty percent chance of victory.  He does not give the Democrats a better than 11 percent chance of winning a single Senate seat currently held by a Republican.

If the Republicans win all nine of the races mentioned above, each party will have 50 U.S. Senate seats.  Vice President Joe Biden would be the tie breaker, and the Democrats would thus retain control of the United States Senate.  That is, unless Democratic U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman (D-Connecticut) switches parties and joins the Republicans, giving the GOP a 51-49 edge.

I have no doubt that if the November elections result in a 50-50 Senate, the Republicans will make every effort to persuade Senator Lieberman to join the GOP.  Is there a realistic possibility of his making such a switch?  I truly think so.

On domestic issues, Lieberman endorses, for the most part, the initiatives of the Obama administration and the Senate Democrats.  On foreign policy and defense issues, however, Lieberman is solidly in support of Republican positions, particularly on Israel and the Middle East. 

Over the past four years, Lieberman has in many ways found more common cause with Republicans than Democrats.  In 2006, Lieberman, seeking reelection to a fourth term as U.S. Senator, was defeated by ultra-liberal Ned Lamont in the Connecticut Democratic primary.  The Senator won reelection as an independent, however, with far more support from nationally prominent Republicans, such as the late Jack Kemp, Newt Gingrich, and Rudy Giuliani, than Democrats.   In 2008, Lieberman supported Republican John McCain for President.

After both the 2006 and 2008 elections, Lieberman considered switching to the GOP, but on both occasions decided to remain with the Democrats.  This time, Lieberman’s decision will be based upon whether he intends to run for reelection in 2012.

A poll taken by Public Policy Polling (PPP) in Connecticut in January, 2010 showed Lieberman’s popularity to be at an all time low in the Nutmeg State.  Lieberman’s favorability ratings were negative throughout the political spectrum, 39%-48 % among Republicans, 32%-61% among Independents, and a shocking 14%-81% among Democrats.

This poll was taken shortly after Lieberman’s highly publicized indecision on ObamaCare.  While he finally voted for the legislation, his equivocations alienated virtually every sector of the Connecticut body politic.  It certainly is possible that a new poll would produce substantially different numbers.

Still, it is clear that Lieberman has a far better chance to be reelected as a Republican.  It is a virtual certainty that he would lose the 2012 Connecticut U.S.  Senate Democratic primary.  By contrast, it is highly likely that if Lieberman switches parties, both leading national and Connecticut Republicans will ensure that he will have no serious 2012 Connecticut Republican primary opposition.

So if Joe Lieberman decides to run for reelection in 2012, there is a better than even chance that he will join the GOP.  This switch may well give the Republicans control of the United States Senate.

Alan J. Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Region 2 EPA consists of the states of New York and New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and seven federally recognized Indian nations. Under former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman, he served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.

I remember when the San Francisco Giants played in New York

BY ALAN J. STEINBERG

COMMENTARY

The 2010 World Series. Or, as Casey Stengel used to call it, the World Serious.

Texas Rangers versus the San Francisco Giants. I am having a difficult time deciding whom I will root for.

I served in the administration of former President George W. Bush, and I maintain a strong loyalty to him. The former President was once an owner of the Texas Rangers, and he remains one of their leading fans. It would delight me to see him on television in the winning locker room of the World Champion Texas Rangers.

Baseball is a game of nostalgia, however, and I have vivid memories of the Giants, dating all the way back to when they played in Manhattan. Their all time greatest star was also the finest player I ever saw, Willie Mays. It would bring me to tears to see him in the winning locker room of the World Champion San Francisco Giants.

So I can't make decision as to which team I will support.

My first year as a baseball fan was 1955. The Giants played in New York's late, lamented, and legendary Polo Grounds in Harlem. They were the reigning World Champions, having defeated the highly favored Cleveland Indians in four straight games in the 1954 World Series.

That was the World Series of THE CATCH — the over-the-shoulder Willie Mays catch in deep center field off the bat of Vic Wertz. His throw after the catch was even more spectacular. The Polo Grounds was 480 feet to straight-away center field, and Willie patrolled it as if he owned it.

The 1954 New York Giants were managed by my all-time favorite manager, Leo Durocher. Leo was a real character — he probably was the greatest womanizer in the history of professional sports! He also, however, was not without strength of character. He took a firm stance against the Brooklyn Dodger players in 1947 who signed a petition refusing to play with Jackie Robinson. Leo was a true father figure to Willie Mays, reassuring him when he was slumping at the plate in his early days at the Polo Grounds. And nobody was a better strategist of the National Pastime than Leo the Lip, Leo Ernest Durocher.

One of the things I remember about 1955 was the first commercial by a baseball player I ever saw on television. The product was P.F. Flyers, and the player making the endorsement was one of the Giants' pitching stars of the 1954 World Series, lefty Johnny Antonelli. P.F. Flyers was a leading brand of what we then called tennis shoes. Today, people call them sneakers.

In 1956, the baseball New York Giants were participants in another landmark event in my life. On July 1, 1956, my dad took me to a doubleheader at Pittsburgh's Forbes Field between the Pirates and Giants. In the second game of the twin bill, the Giants' third baseman, Foster Castleman hit the first Major League home run I ever saw in person.

My father would actually meet Foster Castleman fifteen years later. The former Giant moved to Cincinnati and became a salesman for the same trouser company that employed my father, Wright Slacks. Dad told Foster what a major milestone his home run had been in my life.

The Giants did not draw very well in the Polo Grounds during the 1950s, even when they won it all in 1954. The ball club was owned by Horace Stoneham, one of the major drinkers of Major League Baseball. Stoneham had planned to move the ball club to Minneapolis, the site of his top farm club.

Across town, however, in Brooklyn, the Dodgers, the most profitable ball club in the National League, were unable to obtain the site they wanted for their new ball park at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues. Their efforts to have the land condemned and granted to them were opposed by Robert Moses, the then de facto despotic ruler of New York City. Moses wanted a ball park built for the Dodgers at the site in Queens which later became the location of Shea Stadium.

O'Malley wanted no part of Queens. If he couldn't get his stadium in Brooklyn, he decided that he might as well move his ball club to Los Angeles. Such a move was not practicable, however, unless O'Malley could persuade another team owner to move his ball club to San Francisco.

So in early 1957, O'Malley called Stoneham and asked why they both couldn't move their teams together to California. Stoneham agreed and dropped his plans to move his club to Minneapolis. Like the famous Al Jolson song, it was California, Here We Come for both owners. In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers became the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the New York Giants became the San Francisco Giants.

I often have occasion to drive by the sites of both the Polo Grounds and Brooklyn's Ebbets Field. When I do, I think of the Frank Sinatra song, "There Used to Be a Ballpark Right Here."

In Los Angeles, the Dodgers have won five World Championships. In San Francisco, the Giants have never won once. The 1954 World Championship was the last World Series won by the Giants.

I do remember the time when the San Francisco Giants came very close to winning a World Championship. It was the seventh game of the 1962 World Series between the Giants and the New York Yankees at San Francisco's Candlestick Park. I watched that game on television.

It was the bottom of the ninth inning. The Giants had men on second and third. Willie McCovey, one of the game's most feared hitters, was up for the Giants.

On the mound for the Yankees was Ralph Terry. Two years earlier, Ralph had given up the homer to Bill Mazeroski that won the World Series for the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Bronx Bombers. If McCovey got a hit, both runs would score, and the Giants would win the World Series. Ralph Terry would then be remembered as the man who lost two World Series seventh games, both in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Terry delivered his pitch. McCovey hit a hard line drive, but right into the glove of the leaping Yankee second baseman, Bobby Richardson. Ralph Terry was saved from ignominy.

The Giants had many top flight ball players during those early San Francisco years — McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Juan Marichal, and Gaylord Perry, all of whom are members of the Baseball Hall of Fame. None was nearly as great, however, as the man I remember from the Polo Grounds as the Say Hey kid, Willie Mays.

Other members of that 1954 World Champion New York Giant ball club are still alive, including Monte Irvin, Alvin Dark, Johnny Antonelli, and Don Mueller. It would be great to see them surrounding Willie in the 2010 San Francisco Giants World Championship locker room.

President Bush, we don't know whether Willie will have this opportunity again. Would you mind waiting one more year for a World Championship?

And one more thing, Mr. President: If Willie Mays is in the locker room of the World Champion San Francisco Giants, the ghost of Leo Ernest Durocher will be there, too.

Thank you, Mr. President.

Alan J. Steinberg served as Regional Administrator of Region 2 EPA during the administration of former President George W. Bush. Region 2 EPA consists of the states of New York and New Jersey, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and seven federally recognized Indian nations. Under former New Jersey Governor Christie Whitman, he served as Executive Director of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission.