It is so hard not to be a cynic.

How could it be otherwise? We live in the Age of the Phony.

What once used to be confined mostly to the entertainment industry has infested our national consciousness -- including, most dangerously, our political discourse.

Campaigns are little more sophisticated marketi… Read full post »

As Democrats in the House of Representatives exchanged high-fives and flicked each others' butts with metaphorical wet towels after passing the health insurance reform bill this weekend on a narrow 220-215 vote, millions of pro-choice women learned that this "victory" came at the cost of their rights… Read full post »

**Breaking: Iran announced today that the three Americans will be charged with espionage. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, speaking from Berlin, said: "We believe strongly that there is no evidence to support any charge whatsoever. We would renew our request on behalf of thes… Read full post »

The cover story in this weekend's New York Times Magazine was sedately entitled "The Obamas' Marriage," but might as well have been called "Oh My God I'm Hanging Out In the Oval Office With Barack n' Michelle!"

Jodi Kantor is hardly the first reporter to switch off her reasoning module in… Read full post »

The New York Times ArtBeat blog reports today on the controversy over the selection of 13-year old Abigail Breslin to play Helen Keller in a Broadway revival of "The Miracle Worker" set to open this winter. "Ms. Breslin," blogger Patrick Healy helpfully notes, "can see and hear."

This does n… Read full post »

After reading Dr. Amy's post "Is breastfeeding a moral imperative?" yesterday, I began to compose a comment. But, like trying to fit a breast into a bra a size too small, my comment began to spill out over the confines of comment-hood, and developed into a post of it's own.

Dr… Read full post »

After a lot of re-reading and soul-searching, I can honestly say:… Read full post »

Like many people are this morning, I was shocked by the announcement out of Oslo that President Barack Obama has been awarded the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

Inaugurated just two weeks before the February 1st deadline, many Nobel watchers were surprised at his nomination and believed it was the longest o… Read full post »

So, pretend you are a woman living in Oklahoma, and you find yourself pregnant. After weighing your options and struggling with the moral and spiritual reprecussions, you decide that the best choice, the best decision, is to terminate the pregnancy. Then what?

First you have to find a provider. Good l… Read full post »

Whether it's a politician trying to put one over on the public or an academic that uses the gravitas of their degree to support some half-baked theory, I take offense at being thought of as so stupid that I turn off my critical-thinking module in the face my educational or social… Read full post »

STEVE KROFT: So, your goal to bring civility back to Washington is still a work in progress?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: It's still a work in progress. No doubt about it.

Yeah. Good luck with that one, Mr. President.

There's been a lot of a talk, and even… Read full post »

In 2007, I wrote a set of entries for a book entitled "One Day In History: September 11, 2001."  This is the entry for New York City on 9/11.

September 10, 2001 had been rainy and gray, but New Yorkers woke on the morning on September 11 to find bright… Read full post »

I tend to tune out most of the "end of America" doomsaying. Rumors of our impending demise generally seem to be exaggerated. We've been around for a long time and we've survived many trials. Because nothing lasts forever, I'm sure someday the entity once known as "The United States of America"… Read full post »

Not having kids sometimes has it's advantages. For one thing, when silly kerfuffles like Obama's speech to America's student body come along, I can just sit back with a bemused smile and, like a naughty schoolchild, hurl spitballs at both sides.

I actually have less to say about Right in this case,… Read full post »

Journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee have finally broken their silence on the circumstances surrounding their arrest by North Korean guards along the Chinese border back on March 17, in an editorial posted in the L.A. Times.

As many had suspected, Ling, Lee and cameraman/producer Mitchell Koss… Read full post »

I don't often find myself agreeing with George Will, but there is much truth in his Washington Post editorial, "Time To Get Out Of Afghanistan."

The whole thing is worth a read, but to summarize: we have absolutely nothing going for us in Afghanistan. Nothing. Nada.

Despite years of effort and… Read full post »

Feminists don't really hate babies, as a rule. I though a provocative headline might just grab your attention.

It seemed to work for the women's online mag Double X. Katie Roiphe's essay "My Newborn Is Like A Narcotic. Why Won't Feminists Admit the Pleasure of Infants?" seems to be getting… Read full post »

Pointing out that "body bags aren't taking a vaction," anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan announced that she would be traveling to Martha's Vineyard to protest during the President's week-long getaway there next week.

The response from most of the media? Cue the crickets.

Well, with a couple of… Read full post »

Where is home?

It's a surprisingly complex question. Sure, some people seem to know instinctively that they belong to a particular spot on the map and are happy there for the whole of there lives. But there are those of us who look at the geography of our youth and work… Read full post »

Not to waste too much of a holiday on Sarah Palin -- I'll wait for Monday for that -- but one thing confuses me: the idea that by resigning, Governor Palin is leaving her state in the lurch.

"I am deeply disappointed that the governor has decided to abandon the… Read full post »

The White House faced a more complex public-relations problem last week than either Iran or the global warming bill in the House: how to recognize the death of Michael Jackson.

Normally, this would be a no-brainer. Jackson was one of the most popular, profitable entertainers in history… Read full post »

Against the opulent background of the Chateau at Versailles, French President Nicolas Sarkozy used a rare speech before a joint session of Parliament to call for a ban on the Muslim burqa.

 "The burqa is not a sign of religion," he said in the midst of a state-of-the-union-style address.… Read full post »