Last week, George W. Bush set his vision for the next four years. That is the obligation of a president, and our newly sworn elected leader fulfilled his task with great passion. At the same time, we must embrace our responsibilities as citizens.

That means the president's detractors cannot wish for him to fail, because America will only be the worse for it. His supporters cannot blindly endorse his actions, because that would betray a citizen's duty to act as watchdog.

And while people may disagree on the issues, we must work together as Americans.

We face critical decisions about health care, global warming, Social Security, tax equity, jobs, education. We must look beyond our personal and special interests to see what we are leaving for the next generation. What kind of debt will we hand them? What kind of security, what legacy of liberty? What kind of world?

As we ask these questions of ourselves, we ask them of our president. We wish him wisdom and the vision to act fairly on behalf of all Americans and all the people of the world.

- The Times Herald Record, Middletown

Football fans can be thankful that Fox rejected a cold remedy commercial for the Super Bowl that featured Mickey Rooney baring his backside.

But it's upsetting that Rolling Stone magazine saw fit to reject an advertisement for a youth-oriented Bible. The nation's largest Bible publisher bought space in the magazine to attract young readers. After seeing the ad, Rolling Stone bosses said its message was too religious.

CBS and NBC made the same mistake when they rejected a television commercial from the United Church of Christ that showed that church accepting the kinds of people whom others turn away. The ad was seen by some as embracing homosexuality. The networks should have worked with the church to resolve the issue.

It's ironic these same networks have no problem running ads in which men get women to switch their bikini tops in exchange for beer. And Rolling Stone routinely runs ads for phone sex lines.

Major media outlets like those are conduits for information. There's no good reason for them to shy away from religion.

- Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester