UP IN FLAMES
AP: Romney's Incendiary Debt Speech Riddled With Flaws

Mohamed A. El-Erian, 05/15/12

CEO and co-CIO, PIMCO

Uncertainty, even of the unusual variety, does not -- and should not -- translate into investor paralysis.

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 05/15/12

Author, 'Our Fathers, Ourselves. Daughters, Fathers, and the Changing American Family'

To a generation of current and future voters, Barack Obama has deftly offered a choice: a respectful and inclusive voice of the future; versus a schoolyard tormenter aligned with the intolerant voices of the past. Not bad for a community organizer.

Edward Zwick, 05/15/12

Film and television writer-director; serves on the advisory board of Global Witness

The battle the Kuy and Chut Wutty are fighting against the march of logging, plantations and mining companies into the forest of Cambodia holds an uncanny resemblance to the plot of Avatar. Except this is real-life. And the bullets are real.

Marlo Thomas, 05/15/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

I couldn't get away from it. My girlfriends were talking about it; columnists were writing about it; Saturday Night Live was spoofing it. It was all I heard about.

Gary Hart, 05/15/12

President, Hart International, Ltd.

The influence business is no longer about votes up or down on particular measures that may emerge in Congress or policies made in the White House. This is about setting agendas, deciding what should, and should not, be brought up for hearings and legislation.

Jamal Abdi, 05/15/12

Policy Director, National Iranian American Council

Today the House is planning to take up H.Res.568 -- a resolution that shifts the U.S. redline for war with Iran -- on a suspension vote. There has not been a single hearing on this measure and no debate about its very serious implications.

Michael B. Keegan, 05/15/12

President, People For the American Way

Having gay friends doesn't absolve one of anti-gay prejudice any more than loving one's wife and daughters absolves one of defunding Planned Parenthood. Even if you'd be happy to have gay people over to dinner, that doesn't give you a pass to deny them fundamental rights.

Susan Blumenthal, M.D., 05/15/12

Public Health Editor at HuffPost and Former U.S. Assistant Surgeon General

We now must act boldly to combat the obesity epidemic. There are many opportunities across the lifespan, but it will require a shift in social norms and an unprecedented social movement for obesity prevention.

Robert Reich, 05/15/12

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Beyond Outrage'

Mitt Romney doesn't want to regulate where regulation is necessary -- at the highest reaches of the economy. Yet he wants to regulate where regulation is least appropriate -- at the level of the individual, in bedrooms and other intimate spaces.

Mary Phillips-Sandy, 05/15/12

Editorial producer, Comedy Central's Indecision

Writing a 3,000-word feature on campaign spending is hard. Writing ten funny jokes about campaign spending is also hard. Some people are good at the former, some people are good at the latter and some people are good at both, but those people are unicorns.

Jon Soltz, 05/14/12

Co-Founder of VoteVets.org, Iraq War Veteran

Veterans have served our country at considerable sacrifice. We work hard and play by the rules. But, as it turns out, big corporations aren't playing by the same rules, and our communities are paying for it.

Sarah Lacy, 05/15/12

Founder and editor-in-Chief, PandoDaily

After one particularly awful question, Zuckerberg broke down like a cartoon robot that simply could not compute. His eyes darted from place to place. He furrowed his brow and looked up after several moments of silence. 404 error. I had crashed Mark Zuckerberg.

Iara Lee, 05/15/12

Activist and filmmaker

The fall of Bashar al-Assad is inevitable. But in order to ensure this outcome, the Syrian people must do so without resorting to the same violence that characterizes their opponent. The use of violence will represent a failure of the revolution and a victory for Bashar al-Assad.

Peter J. Woolley and Dan Cassino, 05/15/12

NPR and Jon Stewart's Daily Show came out on top as the most informative, making the schadenfreude all the more delicious for Fox-haters, and the twisting of the liberal knife-in-the-back all the more painful for Fox fans. But how did it come to that?

Marten Weber, 05/15/12

Author, 'Shayno,' 'Benedetto,' and 'Gabriel'

If we want to make the world a more tolerant place, gays do need to be more visible, and not just in the Castro. There is enough room to challenge people's attitudes without breaking the law or ending up as a censored YouTube clip. A sweet kiss is enough.

Leo Hindery, Jr. and Leo W. Gerard, 05/15/12

With the largely jobless recovery continuing -- only 115,000 new jobs created in April -- it's far past time for both Houses of Congress to work with the Obama administration to get really serious about large-scale job creation.

Michael Giltz, 05/15/12

Freelance writer

Sex is not the same thing as love. Author John Irving knows this intellectually and having a bisexual at the center of his latest novel is not a big deal.

Richard (RJ) Eskow, 05/15/12

Writer; host, 'The Breakdown'; Senior Fellow, Campaign for America's Future

Paul Krugman's book is called End This Depression Now! (exclamation point included). If that sounds like a self-help book -- the sequel to Listening to Prozac, maybe, or something by Dr. Wayne Dyer -- that's not altogether inappropriate in this age of collective near-despair.

Michael Cohen, 05/15/12

Popologist

Sometimes with friends, as your life or their life habits change, you just have to  change your social activities with them before you get sucked into their downward spiral.

Victor Stenger, 05/15/12

Physicist, PhD, bestselling author

Scientists and science organizations are being disingenuous when they say science can say nothing about the supernatural. They know better.

Peter Worthington, 05/15/12

Co-founder of the Toronto Sun

Shin Dong-hyuk's story is important as it is unique in giving the world a peek inside that regime, and how the ruling Kim family maintains absolute control through fear and cruelty.

Jared Bernstein, 05/15/12

Senior Fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Next time someone asks you for whom the austerity bell tolls, tell them it ain't just the EU.

Taylor Trudon, 05/15/12

Associate blog editor

Between unfortunate orthodontia and an equally unfortunate obsession with sparkly blue eyeshadow, middle school was rough. But as John wisely predicted, "Something's better on the other side." The other side is New York.

Janet Tavakoli, 05/15/12

President, Tavakoli Structured Finance

Sure the economy is still a mess, unemployment is high, civil services and pensions are being slashed, a record number of people are on food stamps and families are losing homes. But Jamie Dimon does his best to distract the United States from these unpleasant realities.