Issues

In his bitter exit speech from the Democratic presidential campaign Friday, Gary Hart called for changes in the nation's political system--which he charged had destroyed his candidacy by slighting more significant issues and exaggerating the importance of his personal behavior and character. "For most people in this country," he said, "that's not what concerns them." Many scholars and political analysts, however, believe he is on the losing side of the argument.

A good chunk of our mail is generated by magazine collectors. This particular breed of collector, it would appear from the letters, is relentless in pursuit of that valuable but always elusive (and expensive!) Vol. 1, No. 1 of everything from Playboy to National Geographic. With justifiable pride, magazine collectors have reported that after many years of difficult searching, they have acquired every issue of a particular publication.

The 20th Japan-American Conference, an event usually marked by deferential talk among politicians and businessmen on economic issues, ended Wednesday after three days of what participants called "unusually frank" debates on sensitive topics ranging from politics and the environment to race and culture. "I have seen an increase in the candor of the discussions of a serious nature at this conference over the last several sessions," Mayor Tom Bradley observed in a speech before the closing session.

Back in March, City Councilman Bill Cleator indicated in an interview with the San Diego Union that, in his runoff campaign against Maureen O'Connor for mayor, he intended to offer as issues such topics as opposition to California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird, the death penalty and abortion. Incredibly, and to his great discredit, Cleator even went so far as to seemingly try to make an issue of the fact that O'Connor has no children.

Most Americans have serious problems with the press' focus on character in the 1988 presidential campaign, a new Times Mirror poll has found. A clear majority believes that the press went "too far" in reporting former Democratic candidate Gary Hart's relationship with a Miami model and the conception of Republican candidate Pat Robertson's first child out of wedlock. Instead, the poll suggests, the public wants more coverage on issues that it considers pertinent to leadership.

WASHINGTON - Hillary Rodham Clinton leaves her post as secretary of State next month with a split judgment on her diplomatic career: She's won rave reviews from the American public and the president, but maybe not a prominent place in the diplomatic history books. Job approval ratings for the former senator and first lady are at stratospheric levels, suggesting that her four years as chief U.S. diplomat could be an important asset if she runs for president in 2016. But scholars and diplomatic insiders say she has never dominated issues of war and peace in the manner of predecessors Dean Acheson or Henry Kissinger, or laid down an enduring diplomatic doctrine.

Guerrilla warfare in Angola and harbor improvements in San Francisco may not seem like Orange County issues, but they have become hot controversies in the mail campaigns waged by Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and Assemblyman Richard Robinson (D-Garden Grove) in the 38th Congressional District race.

The third season of HBO's shrink drama "In Treatment" is the first not lifted directly from the original Israeli series "Be'Tipul," which ran for only two, and the difference shows almost immediately. Although still following the original conceit ? each week, a series of patients visit psychotherapist Paul Weston ( Gabriel Byrne) in half-hour episodes, while in the last, Paul visits his own therapist (played for the first two seasons by Dianne Wiest) ? this season is more noticeably American, not only in terms of the patients and their issues but also in how they so clearly reflect the issues Paul himself is facing.

Staring intently at his audience, Metta World Peace talked. And talked. And talked. This time, the Lakers eccentric forward wasn't bragging to a reporter about how he'll be one of the NBA's best players in the 2012-13 season. He wasn't acting goofy, as  on a recent appearance on Russell Brand's “Brand X” where the two stripped and wore each other's clothes. He wasn't  defiant, the way he was  after earning a seven-game suspension for delivering a vicious elbow to Oklahoma City guard James Harden a week before the 2012 playoffs.

The designers of the Constitution were a literate bunch of Enlightenment thinkers. They lived in the time of the printed word and the close argument. We, on the other hand, live in the age of YouTube, talk radio, reality TV, cable news and the 30-second attack ad. A constant barrage of public opinion polls -- Gallup, Zogby, NBC News/Wall Street Journal, New York Times/CBS News -- tells us what we think. Well, maybe. On big issues -- what should California do to balance its books and avoid insolvency, for example -- it is important that the public weigh in. But if public knowledge is only skin deep, asking Californians what they want to do is similar to asking your 8-year-old to help drive the winding mountain road to Yosemite National Park.