Independent voices from the TWT Communities
The White House has responded to last year's rash of secession petitions, and no, President Obama has not agreed to allow any of the states to secede.
At the Democratic National Convention a few weeks ago, President Obama told the country that the economy he inherited was not something that could be fixed in four years. Rather, he said, it will take him a second term to fully realize the fruits of his policies and experience a robust economic recovery.
Pioneering astronaut Sally Ride, who relished privacy as much as she did adventure, chose an appropriately discreet manner of coming out.
CNN's Anderson Cooper revealed on Monday that he is gay, ending years of reluctance to talk about his personal life in public.
Anderson Cooper revealed on Monday that he is gay, ending years of reluctance to talk about his personal life in public.
Culture Challenge of the Week: Poll-Driven "Principles"
On May 8 in an Oval Office interview, for the first time in U.S. history a sitting president announced his support for homosexual marriage. The cover of Newsweek heralded President Obama as our "First Gay President," and liberal blogger Andrew Sullivan wrote in a corresponding story that the president finally "let go of fear."
One "mainstream" American journalist broke into sobs of joy last week when President Obama publicly announced his twirling pirouette (aka "flip-flop") in support of gay marriage. In describing the unbinding of his emotions, Andrew Sullivan called Mr. Obama his "father figure."
The culture wars are over, and the Republicans lost. So says liberal columnist Jonathan Alter.
Struggling left-leaning magazine Newsweek grabbed some rare attention this week with its cover story asking why President Obama's critics are "so dumb." In a lengthy essay. avowed Obama junkie Andrew Sullivan posits that Mr. Obama is not the pathetic loser many of his critics say he is. In fact, his "long game" will outsmart naysayers on the right, left and center - provided he gets re-elected.
Interpretations vary as to just what went on at last weekend's conservative gathering in Texas.
Just as President Obama wants to change what it means to be American, controversial author Rob Bell wants to change what it means to be Christian. The cover story for the Easter Week edition of Time magazine is about Mr. Bell's book, "Love Wins." Mr. Bell, perhaps the most widely known of a group of young, supposedly evangelical writers who emphasize love and dismiss the traditional view of judgment/retribution (referred to in Christian circles as "hell) has prompted nationwide discussions about the very meaning of Christianity.
Pollsters and pundits who declare Sarah Palin a political has-been and Republican irritant should curb their appetites.
Former "Manhattan Madam" Kristin Davis, who once supplied call girls for New York's former governor-turner-CNN host Eliot Spitzer, has a message for the network: "I'm available."
Very few Americans are fans of both "The Communist Manifesto" and "Mein Kampf," as 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, the purported Tucson killer, apparently was. Fewer still post on the Internet fears about "brainwashing," "mind control" and "conscience dreaming"; have long records of public disruption and aberrant behavior; were expelled from community college; or were rejected summarily for military service.
"The president is entitled to his own words, but they don't match with his actions," Mr. Sullivan said. "Clearly his actions are dividing the country."
Andrew Sullivan of Nebraska, who said he signed several secession petitions, argued that the White House response calling for unity was at odds with what he described as Mr. Obama's efforts to split Americans into competing political factions.
