opinion

President Obama gave more of a campaign speech than a governing address Tuesday night when he delivered his State of the Union message. Rather than offer any concrete prescriptions for the big issues the country faces, Mr. Obama offered soothing rhetoric and well-tested phrases (mentioning “jobs” 31 times compared to …

“We, the People of South Sudan, Grateful to the Almighty God for giving the people of the South Sudan the wisdom and courage to determine their destiny and future through a free, transparent, and peaceful referendum in accordance with the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, 2005…Recalling our long and …

It happened again just the other day. I was reading the New York Times and I came across something so hilarious that for a moment it seemed to be some kind of joke. But this was in an obituary. The obit was about one George Whitman, the proprietor of the …

Politics in the United States can be likened to a tug-of-war. In a tug-of-war teams try to force each other across a line by pulling on a rope. The winner is the team that pulls the other team across the line first. Today there is a perpetual tug-of-war that rages …

In the hopeful advent of Christmas and in the optimistic wake of Hanukkah there is a sad, baleful September song playing in the halls of the U. S. Capitol and it echoes from New York’s Harbor to San Francisco Bay. It creates a miasma as thick and acrid and wrenching …

Just last week President Obama visited with his old buddy, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev at the White House. In an overt effort to demonstrate how he had single-handedly “repaired” the relationship between Russia and the United States, President Obama took the Russian leader out for lunch to a Washington, D.C.-area …

The spill in the Gulf has gone on now for almost 50 days. Since it began in April, President Obama has had plenty of time to do a great number of things. Just last night, for example, he attended his second “music party” in less than a week. He was …

Just last week, a House Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a hearing on the current status of the BP oil spill cleanup effort in the Gulf. Subcommittee Chair Ed Markey, the only committee member to attend the hearing during recess, stated his disapproval of the often criticized BP efforts …

Recent news stories report that the United States and NATO forces are facilitating talks between the Afghan government and senior Taliban leaders by giving them “safe passage” for meetings in Kabul. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has long announced his intention to reach out and “reconcile” with these leaders. In return …

During the Thanksgiving holiday, as we gather with friends and family, it’s easy to become focused on our own little worlds, whether in the political arena and the recent elections or on our troubled economy and how much effort it takes just to pay the bills or on our kids …