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On the Cold War front - Soviet President Brezhnev proposed a series talks with the U.S. aimed at limiting the number of nuclear weapons in either country's arsenal. Brezhnev also called for a nuclear freeze, but Alexander Haig balked, saying the Russians already had more weapons than we did.

At home - debate in the Senate was heating up over Fiscal '83 with a proposed $40 billion in unspecified Budget cuts, including Social Security. But since that was such a hot-button issue, especially during an election year, it was recommended it all go no the backburner until after the election.

And the Senate was als getting ready to vote on anohter controversial piece of legislation. This time over an FTC requirement for Used Car dealers to state if a car has major known defects before it's sold. The Auto Dealer's Lobby went insane, spending vast amounts of money just to kill it.

And overseas, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin lost his majority in the Knesset as two members of Begin's Likud party bolted and joined the opposition Labour Party.

And that's how it went this May 18, 1982 as reported over The CBS World News Roundup.

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(Need you ask?)

Every so often I will run across some talk show from the past that points out just how naive we all were as a country, many years ago.

On October 5, 1958 the Open Mind program hosted a discussion on the future of television in politics and how advertising could possibly be used to make or break a candidate or issue. Fifty years ago, remember?

Bear in mind, TV wasn't as all-encompassing as it is today. Stations routinely went off the air at midnight. Color was new. Video tape was new. Most homes had TV's that were, at the most 17" and usually encased in a massive console. There were virtually no live on-the-spot reports and there were lots and lots of talking heads.

So, when Open Mind brought on Professor Eric Goldman (author of the book "Rendezvous With Destiny"), John Elliot Jr. from the BBD&O Ad Agency and Lloyd Whiteburke, an advertising consultant. The conversation about the possibilities that Television could influence a political campaign were very real.

Lloyd Whiteburke: “There’s no FTC, no Federal Trade Commission in political advertising. If a product is falsely advertised, as you all know, the Federal Trade Commission will seek an injunction against the advertiser and have that advertising changed and penalize the advertiser. The only person penalized for buying a candidate who is not what he represents himself for is the voter. And he’s got four years to wait to throw him out, throw out this candidate. So it imposes a tremendous sense of responsibility on the advertising fraternity to make darn sure that something isn’t done, that isn’t correct for which the FTC does not have call. And that’s why some of the practitioners do, in the course of their work, say things and do things that are perhaps not exactly right. And we have to watch that and we have to police our own . . . “

Television was still in its infancy. The 1952 Presidential campaign, being the first to utilize Television in a prominent way, was recent history. The Kennedy-Nixon debates were still two years off and cable was only an idea.

I don't think anyone could have imagined what it would all become.