Topic - Benjamin Franklin

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  BOOK REVIEW: Follow the money

  This may not be the optimal time to publish this book. For one thing, it is about a praiseworthy banker - our nation's first banker, if you will.

• A constitutional Christmas present

  Virginia federal Judge Henry E. Hudson's ruling against the individual mandate in Obamacare - coming just 12 days before Christmas - told Americans, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Constitution."

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  BOOK REVIEW: 'Humorists'

  Some authors are so major that even their minor efforts deserve attention. Such a man is Paul Johnson, the English writer whose 15 books include an outstanding history of Christianity and several worthy popular compilations on subjects including the American people, the English people and the birth and evolution of modern times.

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  BOOK REVIEW: Yo-ho, jihad!

  If you instinctively object to the fashionable (in some quarters) assertion that modern Islamic terrorism can be laid to Muslim reaction to the West's racial oppression, this book is a must read.

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  BOOK REVIEW: 'God of Liberty'

  Baylor University history professor Thomas S. Kidd attempts too much with this thought-provoking, meticulously researched book. All at the same time it is a history of evangelical Protestantism in America, a study that links the religious beliefs of our Founders into a political alliance and, finally, a meditation on religion's role in today's increasingly secular American political scene.

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  Israel, Palestinians agree to second round of talks on framework of peace deal

  Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed Thursday to produce a framework for a permanent peace deal and to hold a second round of direct talks this month, a modest achievement reached amid deep skepticism about success at their first such session in two years.

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  YOEST & KING: Rights for the unborn

  President Obama's selection of Elena Kagan, the most demonstrably pro-abortion Supreme Court nominee in recent memory, presented a daunting challenge to pro-life leaders, as her 63 Senate votes during Thursday's confirmation attest.

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  Clinton stresses fight against anti-Semitism

  Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday urged people to continue the fight against ant-Semitism, which she said is changing not only in the Middle East but also in Europe and the U.S.

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  BOOK REVIEW: 'Declaration'

  History writer William Hogeland here offers us the feel of being inside the bare-knuckled struggle that took place in Philadelphia in the supercharged nine weeks that led up to the issuance of the Declaration of Independence 234 years ago this month.

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  NUGENT: The Declaration of Defiance

  Defiance is the DNA of America. Every fiber of my being is overdosed on high-octane defiance. I often rise in the morning convinced that I am Rosa Parks with a loud guitar. It is beautiful.

• Big Brother in the Big Apple

  Though the lion's share of publicity surrounding Tony Blair's recent departure as Britain's prime minister focused on his legacy as George W. Bush's top foreign cheerleader, a more lasting legacy for Mr. Blair's lengthy tenure as Britain's chief "decider" will be that he greatly accelerated Great Britain's ascendancy to the position of the "most surveilled" society in the world. Still, Michael Bloomberg, the Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor of New York is giving Mr. Blair a run for the money as the most surveillance-hungry public official in the world.

• The indispensable man

  As we celebrate the Fourth of July with fireworks, parades, cookouts and speeches, we should be grateful to our many forebears who risked their property, reputation, and lives to attain our independence.

• The American experiment

  The American experiment was unique and improbable in 1776, when Thomas Jefferson penned the Declaration of Independence and the American colonies defied Britain, the most powerful nation on earth at the time. As we look around the world at how difficult it is for democracy and freedom to take hold and flourish, America seems like a political miracle.

• Washington on the Tiber

  The sparklers, snakes, rockets and Roman candles will make a grand display at barbecues, fish fries and picnics this week, but between the second hot dog and the third brewski we ought to think about what the Fourth of July actually means. New Year's Day offers a time for personal appraisals of what we like about ourselves and what we'd like to change, and Independence Day offers that same pause for reflection — for the nation and for each of us.

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