Like Jon Stewart, I had an "I give up" moment last week watching the extraordinary spectacle of House Republicans denying health benefits to 9/11 responders.

It's to be savored when in a venue in which facts cannot be twisted or eschewed altogether and reason cannot be cavalierly dismissed, we get to witness an outcome based in facts, reason and reality.

Any sane cost-benefit analysis shows that Social Security has been a remarkable success. There is no reason to doubt that it can continue to perform that function decades into the future.

Dean says he wants American Muslims, whom he says have been treated badly since 9/11, to be welcomed "back into the fold" of American society. How is that to happen?