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Declaring war on undeclared war
A lawsuit could force President Clinton to get Congress' OK on Kosovo.
By Jake Tapper
[05/06/99]

Endangered congressman?
Former allies target a term-limit promise-breaker.
By Jake Tapper
[05/05/99]

Will Macedonia unravel?
Imagine 26 million Cuban refugees on the shores of Miami, and you'll understand how NATO's mission in Kosovo has destabilized the region.
By David Rieff
[05/05/99]

White lies
Asking "How could it happen here?" reveals the racism behind our thinking about violence
By Jill Nelson
[05/04/99]

Crazy as they wanna be
Black people take secret -- and unwarranted -- comfort in the fact that mass killers tend to be white.
By Debra Dickerson
[05/04/99]

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He has made, for example, the strongest statements of any Republican candidate about including homosexuals in the American family, and treating them with Christian charity and civic respect. "I was taught," he said in response to Trent Lott's infamous remarks, "that we should look after the beam in our own eye before searching for the mote in someone else's."

Bush has the charisma of a national leader, but a personal style that is both down-home and down-to-earth. He is relaxed and disciplined at the same time, a Republican who seems comfortable in his own skin.

Over the past year, Bush's speaking style has become noticeably more passionate. His war chest is larger than those of his opponents, and his poll numbers are strong, so he appears to be a formidable front-runner for the Republican nomination for president.

I conducted this interview in the governor's Capitol office in Austin, Texas. It went on for about 45 minutes, until it was interrupted by the entrance of his next visitor, former Sen. John Glenn.

I've got two sets of questions -- one that the editors of Salon gave me and another that is my own.

What's Salon?

It's the Internet magazine that ran the wretched article about Henry Hyde and recently had a feature asking whether you used drugs in the '60s.

Should I dignify them by answering their questions?

Despite such lapses, Salon is an interesting and unorthodox magazine, and its audience reflects the libertarian and forward-looking ethos of the Internet. You, in particular, should speak to this audience. It is said you have the potential to reshape the political landscape.

That's what I want to do. In the course of the campaign, it's the first thing I want to do. The second is to elevate the discourse. I'm not going to participate in the old Washington, D.C., game of gossip and slander. The game many people want to play is: "Let's force George W. to answer questions about gossip. Let's force him off his message by making him talk about a rumor, or rumors." I'm not going to participate in that game. I'm not going to try to disprove a negative. I'm going to talk about what I want to do for America.

I have told people that 20 to 30 years ago I made some mistakes. But I have learned from those mistakes. What Americans want to hear is: Will the next president be someone who has matured to the point where he has learned from mistakes and will bring dignity to the office to which he is elected? That was my solemn pledge in Texas when I first took office. I have fulfilled that to the satisfaction of Texas voters. And that is my solemn pledge to America.

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