Arthur I. Cyr

"The corn is as high as an elephant's eye," a signature line from the musical "Oklahoma," comes to mind concerning the Iowa caucuses' importance for Republicans. The just-concluded exercise has winnowed the crowded field of presidential candidates in that party, while underscoring the distinctive dynamics of standard-bearer selection.

Both Ben Bernanke and Steve Jobs have been featured in the news in recent days, reflecting respective individual influence over a decade.

Banker-scholar Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, made a policy speech at the annual financial conference at Jackson Hole, Wyo., in which he emphasized that policy will remain on the established steady course, at least in the near term.

Massive rapid expansion of the money supply is highly unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. More important, interest rates will remain near zero at least into 2013.

This famous line of the cynical Captain Renault to night club manager Rick in the film classic "Casablanca" comes to mind in reflecting on the practices of prominent American credit rating agencies and the mixed fate at their hands of beleaguered Uncle Sam.

The standing of the United States federal government has just been notably downgraded by Standard & Poor's, from AAA to the next highest level of quality, while equally well known credit agency Fitch reconfirmed our country's Triple-A rating, though with reservations. Meanwhile, global demand for U.S. government bonds increased even as credit downgrade by S&P made international news.

The retirement of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates provides potent political as well as policy challenges for Pres. Barack Obama. A hard act to follow, Gates has been collegial, effective, and attentive to the public good. However, the nominations of CIA chief Leon Panetta to succeed him, and Gen. David Petraeus to head CIA, are promising.

The scale and power of the Pentagon encourages conflicts at the top of the federal government. A dramatic example is the clashes between Secretary of State George Shultz and Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger during the Reagan administration. Another involved policy rifts between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Gates' predecessor, in the George W. Bush administration.

U.S. special operations forces have killed Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad Pakistan, ending a worldwide search for the head of Al-Qaida and the instigator of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. President Barack Obama announced the successful mission, noting that "justice has been done" in a low-key, unemotional tone appropriate to the occasion.

Middle East turmoil has been joined by revolutionary waves in Wisconsin.

Forceful freshman Republican Gov. Scott Walker presses not only for drastic spending cuts but also effectively ending collective bargaining for public employees, notably teachers.

Amid all the news of war, Washington and WikiLeaks, there has been comparatively little attention to the appearance of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on the traditional television interview program "60 Minutes." That is too bad; he made persuasive points regarding the American and wider global economies.

The cerebral tone of interviewer Scott Pelley was appropriate to the subject matter, the position and personality of the guest, and the very high stakes involved. Their policy discussion provides a striking contrast to most contemporary commentary on television regarding public affairs, which is geared toward emotional entertainment rather than serious content analysis.