President Obama can't help himself. Even as he ordered airstrikes on the Islamic State forces in Iraq threatening to starve, shoot or behead as many as 50,000 refugees trapped on a mountaintop, he had to try to assure the world, his fellow citizens and perhaps, most importantly, himself that the mess wasn't his fault. Published August 11, 2014
President Obama returned from his full-time job as the Democratic Party's fundraiser-in-chief to host today's U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit. Published August 4, 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has the support of something like 84% of his fellow citizens for his effort to destroy the dozens of tunnels Hamas has dug under Israeli territory over the last few years because every Israeli knows that they allow Hamas fighters to infiltrate their country to kidnap and kill Israeli civilians or worse. Published July 31, 2014
Earlier this week, an estimated 20,000 Israelis gathered in Haifa for the funeral of a 21-year-old from South Padre Island, Texas, who had come to Israel, joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and died in fierce fighting in Gaza. Published July 31, 2014
Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin is perhaps the smartest conservative in Congress. Unusual for a politician, the former vice presidential nominee actually spends time thinking about problems and coming up with solutions. Published July 28, 2014
Earlier this week, an estimated 20,000 Israelis gathered in Haifa for the funeral of a 21-year-old from South Padre Island, Texas, who had come to Israel, joined the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and died in fierce fighting in Gaza. Published July 22, 2014
After a landslide victory in 2008, Barack Obama and his political advisors vowed to not only fundamentally change America, but to lock down their victory by fundamentally changing the politics of the American West. Published July 16, 2014
In the early days of the American Republic, Thomas Jefferson was perhaps the staunchest advocate of public education. He would be appalled at the state of public education today. Published July 14, 2014
Bart Giamatti went from Yale University president to commissioner of Major League Baseball and considered it a far grander job. Published July 10, 2014
The world is still struggling to escape from the shadow of the Great War that began 100 years ago this year and produced the bloodiest century in recorded human history. Published July 7, 2014
Wall Street was not happy when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his primary earlier this month. Published June 30, 2014
Liberal progressives have in recent years all but abandoned the American belief in free speech and the First Amendment in favor of shutting down those with whom they disagree. Published June 23, 2014
President Obama is so busy these days blaming anyone and everyone for the consequences of his policies that it has to be cutting into his golf game. Published June 16, 2014
While the materials Edward Snowden copied and disseminated during his stint as a National Security Agency contractor put the nation's security policies under an unprecedented microscope, many in and out of government had been worried about whether the post-9/11 security fetish was undermining basic constitutional liberties. Published June 12, 2014
Washington's spinmeisters are out in full force "explaining" House Majority Leader Eric Cantor's primary loss. Published June 11, 2014
To editors of The New York Times and producers at the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), David Brooks is the perfect conservative. Published June 9, 2014
It was 1946, and America was on the road to recovery. Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo had been vanquished. Published June 2, 2014
To fire Eric K. Shinseki or not --- that is the question everyone in Washington is asking. Many, including major veterans' organizations and a lot of Republicans, think he should have been fired yesterday. Published May 26, 2014
Outraged posturing over Karl Rove's recent inelegant injection of Hillary Clinton's age and health into the discussion of whether she is up to a national campaign for the presidency predictably dominated the weekend news shows. PBS' Gwen Ifill and Mark Shields, for example, disdainfully dismissed "Dr." Rove's comments, Mr. Shields calling them the political equivalent of "injecting heroin into the bloodstream." Published May 19, 2014
Though the now trite-sounding quote is often attributed to George Santayana, it was actually that old conservative Edmund Burke who first warned that "those who don't know history are destined to repeat it." Published May 12, 2014
