By Elaine Donnelly
Extending sexual misconduct to combat units
Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Following the Mexican-American war, while Americans still wondered at their country's dramatic expansion, the question of whether to allow slavery in the newly acquired land polarized opinion in both North and South. Pro-slavery ideologues, writes historian Fergus M. Bordewich, "pretty much considered anyone who supported constraints on slavery to be a traitor."
Doris Kearns Goodwin has read a lot of upbeat material about American presidents, but some of the entries on the White House website were so sunny that they reminded her of the happy talk at Boston Red Sox games.
It was precisely Feb. 4, 2009, when I broke my self-imposed rule. It was not a very old rule, but it was serious. I had told myself I would not criticize the new president of the United States, Barack Obama - at least not for a few more months. But I slipped up. I could not completely swallow the fact that a community-action leader with almost no experience at the national level had become president.
