Who's Mike Gravel?

The internet has been abuzz with this person's name. Mike Gravel. Who is Mike Gravel? After watching the two videos below, you might have a better idea of who he is. He certainly got his point across and raised a fairly pertinent issue. I wonder if he's going to push forth with his idea of cornering the President with the law.

I wonder why we don't have such public debates in Malaysia. It would be extremely useful for the political candidates to get their message out to the people. Mass media is called 'mass' for a reason. Maybe our politicians are just not quick enough on their feet. Heck, they're already having problems with slow media like blogs. Goodness knows what's going to happen when they're on live TV.