"I've heard many in this room say that they will not recognize the elections in Honduras. I'm not trying to be a wiseguy, but what does that mean? What does that mean in the real world, not in the world of magical realism?" - W. Lewis Amselem, Obama administration's...

The deal to reinstate Honduran President Manuel Zelaya unraveled this week, leaving the Obama administration as the only government in the western hemisphere willing to let the recent military coup there stand. What can you say when the "world's only remaining superpower" gets strong-armed by the world's original "banana republic"?...

Big news for Christians today: the Catholic Church has announced a special deal to entice Anglicans who are unhappy with their church's acceptance of openly gay clergy to break from their church and "enter full communion with the Catholic Church."

It's sort of like when professional athletes become...

President Obama's argument that investigation of Bush administration torture, war crimes, and illegal surveillance would be a distraction from his agenda -- a looking backwards instead of forwards -- could have been made equally in any historical situation in which such crimes have been investigated. Germany and Japan after...

Now would be a good time to remember that censorship and surveillance are different things. I tremble at the thought that the brave citizen journalists of Iran are now getting a brutal lesson in the distinction.

For nearly two weeks, they have managed to keep one step ahead of...

There is a bizarre disconnect between news coverage of Internet surveillance and censorship in Iran and here in the US. To a certain point, this has some rational basis: after all, US citizens are not out in the street laying down their lives in defense of democracy. Here in the...

The problem of what to do with the American prison in Guantanamo, Cuba, and the prisoners it holds, is admittedly complex and can obscure some relatively simple ideas at the heart of the matter.

For starters, let's look at Dick Cheney's argument, echoed by some Republicans and Democrats too,...

Seems like the debate my postings here on the Huffington Post about gay marriage have reverberated beyond. Among the various articles and interviews about it all is an interview just published on the Patheos web site.

Patheos is one of the more interesting resources I have seen dealing...

When Obama said he wanted bi-partisanship, this is probably not what he had in mind: Democrats and Republicans in Congress speaking in a united voice against corporate executives that have been equally cosy with Democrats and Republicans.

As in: equally cosy with Senator John Warner, that bad Republican, and...

On January 30, the Commerce Department announced that the the U.S. economy contracted at a 3.8% annualized rate in the last three months of 2008. Yesterday, the same Commerce Department announced that actually the rate of decline for the fourth quarter at 6.2%.

Ooops.

The first report was...

Juan Cole, the highly respected blogger, has published an excellent overview of the humanitarian crisis that the Israeli military left in its wake in Gaza. As usual, his blog is so thorough and thoughtful that there is little to add. He also issued a "Call for Cyberspace Aid Convoy,"...

You are not going to believe this, but I'm going to tell you anyway:

The Department of Defense is soliciting proposals for a computer program that would allow small children whose parents are in Iraq or Afghanistan to "interact" with a virtual version of their missing parent. It is a...

Your unit, on the edges of the northern Gaza town of Jabaliya, has taken mortar fire from the crowded refugee camp nearby. You prepare to return fire, and perhaps you notice -- or perhaps you don't, even though it's on your map -- that there is a United Nations school...

How can one put into words the feelings you get when you see videos of white phosphorous bombs exploding above a crowded city? White phosphorous burns people to death in a most horrible way. If it gets on you it burns deeply into your body. But that is preferable...

What I want from my new administration this year: a program to address climate change that is stunning in its breadth and scope.

The weird thing is: I might get it.

* The new administration will quickly pass an economic stimulus plan approaching something like...

An American hero died last week. One you have almost certainly never heard of, by the name of Tom Bernard. Tom was one of the WORMS (We Openly Resist Military Stupidity), one of the many thousands of American servicemen and women who actively opposed the Vietnam war.

The story...

Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni:

"Israel is part of the free world and fights extremism and terrorism. Hamas is not."

"These are the days when every individual in the region and in the world has to choose a side... Israel chose its side the day it was established;...

Thank you, everyone, for all the thoughtful comments posted to my blog on gay marriage. Many intelligent and wise things were said, from all different points of view.

I did not appreciate, however, the angry messages I received in my personal email account. Not that I found them...

It's just plain sad what the gay and lesbian movement has come to. November 4 was so extraordinary, so magical. The whole world seemed to come together. Except for gays and lesbians in California. We were supposed to feel crushed over Proposition 8. And now the whole scenario is gearing...

The world wide eruption of support for shoe-throwing Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi continues. Demonstrations throughout the Middle East. All kinds of statements of support on the Web. And just a few moments ago, bedlam in the Iraqi parliament over whether al-Zaidi, who is still in custody and was clearly injured...