Featured

The other day, David Bernstein argued that there’s been an “important tipping point” where many national media figures have come to understand that “in the Romney campaign, they are dealing with something unlike the normal spin and hyperbole.” Bernstein suggested they are realizing Romney has crossed into groundbreaking levels of dishonesty. I wish I were…

If you think Rush Limbaugh is fatally wounded, think again. By way of explanation, let me tell you how a certain subset of my listeners will react to this opinion. Experience dictates that once I’ve taken my last swipe at their dear leader, Limbaugh’s followers will well … rush to fire off angry emails in…

For centuries, the best and brightest from around the world have come to America seeking a better life and economic opportunity. They come to study in our universities and work at our companies. We take this “brain drain” to the United States for granted, but times are changing and other countries are catching on to…

Separation of Church, State. Did Rick Santorum sleep through constitutional law? Separation between church and state is part of the foundation that made the U.S. great. Just observe the many punitive theocracies in the world. Santorum doesn’t respect the separation between church and state and his regressive views on contraception, abortion, gay people and disdain…

So Greece has officially defaulted on its debt to private lenders. It was an “orderly” default, negotiated rather than simply announced, which I guess is a good thing. Still, the story is far from over. Even with this debt relief, Greece – like other European nations forced to impose austerity in a depressed economy –…

Rick Santorum wants to bring sexy back … to the 1950s, when he was born. That is because Santorum seems to have an unhealthy fixation with, and passionate disdain for, the 1960s and the sexual freedoms that followed. To fully understand Santorum’s strident rejection of the 1960s, it’s instructive to recall a speech and question-and-answer…

Who’d have thought that Rush Limbaugh would become the great Uniter in this divisive political season? Indeed, he has united decent people of all stripes and persuasions with his vile remarks about a Georgetown University law student. Perhaps by now you’ve heard of Sandra Fluke, who created a smallish tempest when she tried to testify…

When will Republicans stop their vagina monologue? I never thought that I would ever be writing an opinion about  vaginas, but miracles never cease! March is federally recognized as Women’s History Month, and Republicans have been celebrating the occasion in a most unusual style: with a burst of interest in women’s private parts. On Thursday, the…

Taking office not long after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly wisely decided to beef up the Police Department’s counterterrorism program significantly, to help federal law enforcement agencies avert another disaster. Unfortunately, they did not provide for sufficiently strong supervision of this formidable and far-flung intelligence operation –…

It wasn’t that long ago that American parents were gripped with Tiger Mother anxiety. Did we over praise our kids in the name of promoting self-esteem? Were we forfeiting an Ivy League future for them if we didn’t force them to practice endless hours of violin or rip up birthday cards that weren’t perfect? Were…

The House intelligence committee used to be one of the meanest snake pits in Congress, a place where members were so busy sniping at each other that they failed to provide effective oversight of the intelligence community. It was a model of what was wrong with Washington. Amazingly enough, the committee has found its way…

The nation’s top military official concedes that President Barack Obama’s plan to cut the Pentagon’s budget will leave the United States with a force that assumes more risk and is slower to respond to emergencies. Last month, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told the…

Run to the extreme in the primary, move to the center in the fall: That’s expected. But moving from the cartoon world the Republican presidential candidates have constructed back into three dimensions might prove more difficult. In their debate Wednesday night, the remaining candidates seemed to be continuing their drift from reality — the reality…

The Pentagon’s new strategic guidance and corresponding budget request have effectively shifted the focus away from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan toward the threats of the future. Current Defense Department proposals, however, do not account for the possibility of an additional automatic cut, or sequestration, which will go into effect in January if there…