Archive By Section - Columnists
The Fifties Ended on November 22, 1963
We humans like to divide time into neat little boxes based on dates, but the case can be made that the styles, policies, manners and mores of one ten-year period usually spill over into the next.
Obama’s Decline and the Conventional Wisdom
Whew! I need to catch my breath. I can't keep up with the quickly shifting journalistic conventional wisdom.
Bill Clinton, First Guy
Last week, when Bill Clinton said President Obama should allow people to keep their health-insurance coverage - an early attempt to distance Hillary and himself from ObamaCare - I began to worry that the Clintons may be serious about another run at the White House.
Thanksgiving with the Cheneys
"The holiday turkey sure looks grand this year," Dick Cheney said. "Why don't we go around the table and say what we're thankful for?"
The Foggy Crystal Ball
The heck is going on here, people? Did someone drop the flag signaling the start of the 2016 presidential election race in secret? Was there a furtive whispered "go now" left on the voice mail of all the major players in the 202 area code? Thirty-six months before the election? Is it possible to earn extra credit by skipping this one and moving right on to 2020?
What Can We Learn From JFK’s assassination
Half a century ago, Sid Davis was the first journalist to learn John Kennedy had died. Instead of breaking the biggest news story in the world, he waited because he wanted to make sure he was right. It is hard to image a journalist making the same choice nowadays amid our modern cacophony of inaccurate reporting, but perhaps Davis has something to teach us.
The Death of Personal Freedom
Massachusetts Democrat Barry Greenfield is pushing for legislation to allow police to enter your home unannounced, without warrant, and take your guns.
Take Advantage of Obama’s Great Gift
America finally understands Obamacare.
JFK: An Uncluttered Commemoration
In 1971 when Granny Tyree passed away, her belongings included a scrapbook of World War II editorial cartoons, a freezer container labeled (yum!) "strawberries" (but containing turnips!) and a little book in which she had jotted down her own poems and grandchildren's witticisms.
The Comedy God Gives You Toronto’s Mayor Rob Ford
The universe's comedy God has answered prayers of comedians everywhere who seek a sure-fire punch line: He has given them Toronto Mayor Rob Ford. Ford has become a living unfunny joke.
State Health Care Websites are Failures, Too
The federal Healthcare.gov website, serving 36 states that chose not to build their own sites, has been - to quote its boss, Kathleen Sebelius - a "debacle." Its estimated cost to taxpayers stands at $394 million so far and will likely rise as the "tech surge" pours millions of additional taxpayer dollars into trying to fix the site. But federal taxpayers are on the hook for a sum more than 10 times greater - $4.3 billion - for state exchange websites. And some of them are even more spectacular failures than the federal site.
Ideology and the ‘Men of Reason’
Ideology is such an abomination, President Obama rages against those he believes are guided by different ideas of governance.
Now that’s a friendship
HOLLYWOOD - God bless America, and how's everybody?
For Veterans Day -- Quiet Sacrifice
Exclusive Excerpt from: "Comical Sense: A Lone Humorist Takes on a World Gone Nutty!" by Tom Purcell
Will the GOP Learn its Election Night Lesson?
Based on the election results in New Jersey and Virginia, the Republicans have stark choices going forward: They can nominate candidates with crossover appeal - and win. Or they can continue to nominate right-wing extremists - and lose.
Articles by Section - Columnists
How Many More Wars?
Last week President Obama sent Congress legislation to authorize him to use force against ISIS "and associated persons and forces" anywhere in the world for the next three years. This is a blank check for the president to start as many new wars as he wishes, and it appears Congress will go along with this dangerous and costly scheme.
Awaiting Our Next George Washington
"Boy, here's something we could use more of today: unity among the American people. Americans are so divided."
Boehner, Netanyahu Helping Iran
What would it look like if politics stopped at the water's edge? It wouldn't look like the mess that John Boehner created by inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address a session of Congress on March 3. By allowing Netanyahu to stage what is effectively a campaign event in the U.S. Capitol, congressional Republicans have not only damaged our relations with Israel but threatened our diplomatic negotiations with Iran.
The Fall of the Southern Poverty Law Center
There was a time when Morris Dees and his Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) were respected.
The New Republican Tar Pits
It's kind of sad being forced to watch the death struggle of these modern-day dinosaurs. Responsible parents should keep their kids from peering over the Plexiglas railing into the tar pits below to see the huge lumbering antediluvian beasts frenziedly dig themselves deeper into the sticky morass that is gay marriage. Not a sight for the queasy or squeamish.
