Bob Schieffer Shares Little-Known Washington Media Secret

Bob Schieffer reappeared with the I-Man today, and touched on the subject of his closing comment from Face the Nation this week: the child abuse scandal facing the Catholic Church, an institution for which Schieffer has great respect.

“There really were the crucible, the place where knowledge and scholarship was all through the Dark Ages,” he said. “And the Catholic Church, along with Judaism, is really where all our Western values came from, and we’re the product of those values.”

It is therefore “heartbreaking” for Schieffer to see the Church in such a sorry state. “The church and its leaders have to put their reason for being ahead of the survival of their leaders, and right now they do not appear to be doing that,” he said. “Until they do, I think the church is going to remain at risk.”

Also at risk: the world, what with nuclear weapons floating around everywhere. To address this problem, or at least try to, President Obama is hosting 46 world leaders at a nuclear terror summit in Washington this week.

“This is a big deal,” Schieffer said.. “The thing about nuclear weapons and all that business is that it doesn’t affect our everyday lives …but this is one of the most important issues facing any president.”

While the summit won’t be a cure all, Schieffer stressed the importance of focusing on the issue every so often, and of doing so without interrupting his life.

“The good news about this is that it has not tied up traffic in Washington like we all thought that it would,” he said, invoking a very Imus-like mentality.

Schieffer interviewed Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton this past Sunday, and agreed with Imus’s assessment that the two cabinet members are good at acting like adults.

Gates, who also served in the Bush administration, sets a good example, in Schieffer’s view. “He’s there because he thinks they need him,” said Schieffer. “If we had more people like that, I think we’d all be in better shape.”

On Face the Nation, Both Gates and Clinton “got a little kissy-face” with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, in Imus’s opinion. Schieffer thinks they’ve shifted their approach from criticizing Karzai in an attempt to pacify him.

“What they said was by design, that’s what they came on television to say,” said Schieffer. “It just shows that nothing in Washington ever happens by accident.”

Kinda like George Stephanopoulos badgering Obama last week with questions about Sarah Palin, which accomplished little other than to annoy the President and bring attention to Stephanopoulos. But it suited Imus’s agenda (we’re not happy ‘til you’re not happy), and not accidentally.

“George always says, ‘We have to take care of Imus,’” said Schieffer. “Let’s always keep that in the back of our minds.”

At least two people in that crazy town know what’s up.

-Julie Kanfer