And now for some friendly advice for my Republican friends. If you want to criticize President Obama on anything having to do with Iran, don't waste your energy seething about "Iran" and "ransom" and "hostages" and what Ronald Reagan would do. It won't end well for you. After all, it wasn't Reagan's inauguration that secured […]

One day after the horror in Munich, German authorities are still assembling a fuller picture of the 18-year-old assailant who killed 9 people in a shopping mall there. With the revelations that the gunman was a seriously depressed loner who had researched past school shootings including Columbine and Virginia Tech, it appears increasingly likely his […]

Thursday, July 14, represented Donald Trump's first test as the would-be commander-in-chief of the United States. He failed it badly. Facing the unexpected need to react to the carnage in Nice, France, on the eve of his vice-presidential announcement, Trump stumbled, froze, raged, and ultimately beclowned himself on a global stage. The man who would […]

Three weeks after he expanded the role of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, President Obama on Wednesday he would maintain troops levels at 8,400 for the duration of his term. But to make sure the previously planned reduction to 5,500 did not take place, Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) launched their own preemptive […]

A week after the slaughter of 49 people in The Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, there is still much we don't know. Topping the list is Omar Mateen's motivation for his mass killing. The long-troubled 29 year old American son of Afghan immigrants hardly fits the mold of so-called "radicalization." Mateen's lack of religious commitment […]

Few things stir the passions of most Americans more than the struggle of oppressed people fighting for their freedom against a tyrant, a dictator, an authoritarian government, or a totalitarian regime. And to be sure, those feelings are greatly amplified when the uprising represents a potential blow to a rival whose rulers constitute a clear […]

With Tuesday's announcement that the FBI will join the expanding investigation, anyone who doubted the seriousness of the poisoning of the Flint, Michigan water supply should now recognize their error. After all, until the administration of Republican Governor Rick Snyder and his emergency manager in Flint knowingly jeopardized the health of thousands, the FBI feared […]

For months, conservatives have been warning Americans about the supposed "Ferguson Effect." Murder rates in cities like St. Louis, Chicago and Baltimore are rising, they claim, because police fear being criticized for doing their jobs, thus emboldening criminals to take advantage of their absence. But while there are plenty of reasons to doubt the Ferguson […]

Watching the Republican presidential debate last Tuesday night, I kept flashing back to George W. Bush's acceptance speech at the 2000 Republican National Convention. Vice President Al Gore, Bush charged that August night, "now leads the party of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, but the only thing he has to offer is fear itself." Coming as it […]

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris that killed 130 and wounded hundreds more, there is little doubt that the U.S., France, the UK and other American allies will step up their strikes on Daesh targets in Syria and Iraq. Beyond that, the questions about what the coalition should--and shouldn't do--to combat ISIS […]