Archive By Section - Columnists
How not to honor St. Patrick
Ah, St. Patrick's Day is upon us. That means but one thing: time for Americans to over-celebrate the Irish tradition. I speak of the goofy Leprechaun hats, the gaudy green buttons and scarves and the propensity to drink excessive amounts of alcohol at fake Irish pubs while trying to be authentically Irish. Though I'm not entirely without guilt. Eight years ago in a gentrified section of Washington, D.C., I visited a fake Irish pub a ...
Rand Paul: GOP’s national salvation or doom?
A national political star is born. Kentucky's' Republican Senator Rand Paul became the political Justin Beiber of libertarians everywhere and a role model for GOPers who want to grab media attention by staging a dramatic "talking filibuster." And, suddenly, Republicans who had steadfastly resisted the idea of bringing back talking filibusters were falling all over themselves to get involved and praise it.
Rand Paul and the New Isolationism
The Republican civil war has so many factions, you need a scorecard to sort them out - tea partyers versus the establishment; conservatives versus moderates; gubernatorial wing versus congressional wing; religious rightists versus tolerants - and even the despairing Republican National Committee, in its newly released autopsy of the '12 campaign, says the party is "driving around in circles on an ideological cul de sac."
Obama Must Convince Israel He is Trustworthy
When Air Force One touches down in Israel for meetings this week, President Barack Obama has his hands full. Iran is about a year away from developing a nuclear weapon and Obama must convince Israel he is trustworthy before he can suggest to anyone that taking a preemptive strike against Iran is a lousy idea.
The miracle of the junk food performed
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? Hostess Twinkies were rescued in bankruptcy auction Friday along with Ding Dongs and Dolly Madison cakes. They will be on stores shelves by summer. Americans were amazed that Pope Francis wasn't in office for one day before he performed his first miracle. Pope Francis reportedly impressed his fellow Cardinals in Rome with his devotion to a humble lifestyle. He gave up his house for a studio apartment, ...
The Charmingly Offensive Road Tour
Thankfully the current revival of President Obama's Charm Offensive is not a theatrical production, because the reviews are decidedly mixed. Seeing him furiously pirouette around Washington for the last two weeks like a carnival contortionist makes you wonder if he might be secretly setting up a post-presidential career in a Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil spin-off.
A Catholic Pope, Revisited
By the time you read this, the world's billion-plus Roman Catholics may have a new pope. And when the black smoke of Tuesday's indecisive first vote has turned to the white smoke of final decision, don't be surprised if the cardinals have chosen... a Catholic pope.
McCain and Graham, Irrelevant or Dangerous
Imagine U.S. Senators Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana attacking fellow Democrats Diane Feinstein, Chuck Schumer and Richard Blumenthal over their unconstitutional gun control proposals. Further, envision Manchin granting an interview with conspiratorial radio talk show host Alex Jones, during which the senator calls Feinstein, Schumer and Blumenthal "wacko birds." Picture the harrumphing that would emanate from the elite media...
Keep the sun shining in
Our own increasingly secretive Kansas Legislature continues to ponder bills that would curtail the release of what is now considered public information.
Rand Paul: GOP’s National Salvation or Doom?
A national political star is born. Kentucky's' Republican Senator Rand Paul became the political Justin Beiber of libertarians everywhere and a role model for GOPers who want to grab media attention by staging a dramatic "talking filibuster." And, suddenly, Republicans who had steadfastly resisted the idea of bringing back talking filibusters were falling all over themselves to get involved and praise it.
Give us a sign
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody? The Sistine Chapel emitted black smoke after the first day of papal balloting in Rome indicating no pope yet. The signal is primitive in order to preserve secrecy. CNN hired a ninety-six-year old Apache to read the smoke for hints of which way the votes are leaning. Cambridge scientists devised an algorithm that read sixty thousand Facebook posts and identified each user's race, drug use, sexual proclivities ...
The Many Woes of Telecommuting
Last week, Best Buy joined Yahoo to ban employees from telecommuting - a subject on which I am becoming an expert.
Ted Cruz: Pro-Stimulus Republican?
When Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaks to the Conservative Political Action Conference next week in Washington, it won't be a keynote, it'll be a coronation. Sick of sellouts, movement conservatives have fallen hard for Cruz. The Red State blog dubbed him a "national hero" and a "great patriot" for his first two months in the Senate. Retired Sen. Jim DeMint vouched for Cruz as the real deal:
The Bright Sides of Extreme Maturity
Some fancy-dancy public-policy think-tank just released a brand-new study that speculates the legion of aging baby boomers will permanently redefine retirement. Mainly because so few of us will be able to afford to retire. "Uh, lady, you want lids on these?" Fast-food break rooms equipped with CPR paddles. A forest of tennis ball-footed walkers leaning against the brooms and mops by the back door. Intra-generational minimum wage squabbles: "Hey you punks, get your greasy hot ...
Medicare Needs More Competition, Not Less
Senate Democrats are finally beginning the process of writing a budget after four years of dereliction. They will almost certainly include some changes to Medicare, the largest driver of federal spending and debt. But unfortunately, there are indications that they intend to focus on the small piece of Medicare (10.6 percent in 2012) that is actually working well: the Medicare Part D prescription drug program.
Articles by Section - Columnists
American pravda, a nation of lawbreakers and Benghazigate
Louis Brandeis, who served on the United States Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939, once warned, "Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy."
Limbaugh, Kurtz and the Bum’s Rush
Big news for those who think there aren't consequences in our media when professional talkers cross the line, or when famous reporters mess up and don't fix their mistakes without qualification, or do so begrudgingly. We now see proof of the law of consequences.
Did something happen in Benghazi?
HOLLYWOOD--God bless America, and how's everybody?
Will Obama Beat the 6-Year Itch?
If the 2010 elections weren't bad enough for Democrats, here comes the "six-year itch." With the exception of Bill Clinton's second term, the party that controls the White House loses seats in congress six years into a presidency. But there's a gathering sense among Democratic consultants who work on congressional campaigns that their party could buck the trend in 2014 for a number of reasons, not least because Barack Obama is finally fired up and ...
No-Fault Internet Addiction
Online chat host: Good morning, cyber pals. As you know, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), the psychiatric "bible," is to be released this month. It will include "Internet-Use Disorder" - also referred to as Internet addiction - as a condition recommended for further psychiatric study. Our guest today is Dr. Adam Von Cybercruncher, America's leading authority on Internet addiction.
Droning On
Put on your tinfoil hats everybody. Or didn't you get the memo? Its paranoia time in America again. Maybe it's the spring that brings out the crazy in our legislators. Of course, that would assume a semblance of sanity the other three seasons, and nobody wants to bet anything more than lunch money on that proposition.
FCC Must Run Honest Auctions
"America's global leadership in mobile, and the strategic bandwidth advantage so many have worked hard to create, is being threatened by the looming spectrum crunch," recently departed Federal Communications (FCC) Chairman Julius Genachowski said.
