Even as Islamic State fighters battle Iraqi forces in western Iraq near a base where hundreds of American troops are currently stationed, the government in Baghdad is facing a new crisis. On Friday, Sunni tribal leader Sheik Qasim al-Janabi, his son and six bodyguards were killed by unidentified Shiite militiamen in Baghdad. In the aftermath […]

Among the supposed revelations in the new book by former Obama adviser David Axelrod is the claim that the 44th President was "bulls**ting" about his past opposition to marriage equality. While President Obama today claimed otherwise, his deference to political expediency was no mystery to his supporters. For them, his Hamlet act that his views […]

Recent polling from Israel suggests that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party and its coalition allies may eke out a narrow victory in the March 17 elections. Here in the United States, Republicans are certainly hoping so. After all, they didn't just invite Netanyahu to use Congress as an unprecedented platform for a foreign leader […]

During his address at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, President Obama pointed to the history of the Crusades and American slavery as obvious examples of those who "committed terrible deeds in the name of Christ." These self-evident truths elicited a furious--and sometimes comical--response from the usual suspects on the right. Southern Baptist leader Russell […]

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers his address to Congress, his objectives will be two-fold. While President Obama is trying to avoid a U.S. war with Iran, Bibi wants to start one. (As his Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon put it last year, "The one who should lead the campaign against Iran is the U.S.") […]

On the eve of President Obama's 2015 State of the Union address, we have a rare bipartisan consensus on one of the greatest challenges facing the United States. Record-high income equality, President Obama, Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney all agree, presents a threat to the American Dream and American democracy. The ever-widening gap between the […]

Four years ago, Republicans led by then -new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) began taking credit for the economic progress made since the Bush recession began in December 2007. Just 19 days after the GOP had assumed control of the House, Cantor issued a statement declaring, "THERE ARE THE JOBS: Republicans Prevent Massive Tax […]

As 2015 opens, the American economy seems poised for robust economic expansion. Strong GDP growth and job creation, falling first-time jobless claims, surging stocks and (finally) rising wages show the Obama recovery from the Bush recession which began in late 2007 is starting to hit on all cylinders. And to be sure, it is the […]

As 2014 comes to a close, the American economy is finally starting to take off. U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) surged by 5 percent in the third quarter, the best performance since 2003. Employers hired 321,000 more workers in November, marking the 57th consecutive month of private sector job gains. With unemployment down to 5.8 […]

There's an old saying that the United States is always fighting the last war. If so, then the apoplectic assortment of Cuban-American irredentists, aging anti-Communist crackpots and knee-jerk, Cro-Magnon conservatives opposing the normalization of relations with Havana are several conflicts behind. Simply put, the exigencies of the Cold War and the Monroe Doctrine no longer […]