You'd think part of the fun of posting online is hearing back from readers. The whole Internet-is-great-for-community-building notion seems like such a good idea. The reality is kind of different.

For articles I wrote for NY Times Dining and The Huffington Post, some people would contribute thoughtful responses. But...

I want the election to be over. I'm tired of partisanship, attack ads and endless news cycles of pontificating pundits.

I want the election to be over as long as my candidates and propositions win. That's what I meant to say.

If my side needs more time to win the...

Monday Night Football was starting in half an hour. I was tired and wanted to get home to see the game. A steak and the grill waited for me. Problem was, several miles of bumper-to-bumper traffic stood between me and where I wanted to be.

In my pre-iPhone days, I...

Everybody's slamming Obama for the debt ceiling agreement. How in god's name could he have given in on cuts without getting any new revenue?

Obama acts like he's Charlie Brown to Boehner's Lucy. No matter how many times Boehner promises the president he'll tee-up the ball, it's a lie.

Dear Mr. President:

You are about to give an address to the nation in which you will lay out your budget plan to address the deficit.

Please stop letting the Republicans frame the public debate.

"Entitlements"? What are entitlements? Being cared for when we are sick? Having enough money...

Once again the Republicans have framed the public debate.

"Entitlements"? What are entitlements? Being cared for when we are sick? Having enough money so we can eat and have shelter?

Entitlements suggests a spoiled child who can't control himself. Entitlements suggest indulgence. Entitlements are selfish, unreasonable and immoral.

How lame-brained can Obama be? (Can a Progressive Democrat like myself say that about a president I chanted for and believed in?) In capitulating to right-wing pressures that he extend Bush-era tax cuts, he chose to meet only with Republican leaders -- including Senator Mitch McConnell who previously boasted that...

The polls predict a Republican take over of the Senate and the House. The media picks up the scent of blood in the water and howls with delight. A story! Defeat of the ruling party! Drama! Reversal!

Progressive writers chuckle that Obama and the Democrats are getting what they...

I don't care if Jon Stewart is ok with hanging out in the No Spin Zone, I'm fried. I'm burned out by the debates over Health Care Reform, Afghanistan, Financial Reform.... On Sunday I'm taking a break and giving myself up to a gathering of friends, food, and the Super...

Liberal bloggers have attacked the health care reform bill now in the conference committee. The all-but-eliminated-public option, the proposed taxes on so-called Cadillac health plans won by union workers over years of difficult labor negotiations, the attack on abortion rights, the lack of restraints of insurance company fees, the rejection...

John Wells' Southland has been canceled. Not because of weak ratings. The second season hasn't even started yet.

It was reported that Wells' was told by NBC that the show was canceled because when compared with a news program like Dateline, the show cost too much. More importantly, NBC...

On last week's "Left, Right, and Center", Arianna Huffington spoke forcefully about Afghanistan. Ridding the country of the Taliban was possible right after 9/11, but now, eight years later, it is folly to continue the fighting. Bush blew an opportunity leaving Obama entangled in a war he cannot win....

The CBS-owned KFWB-AM has jumped the shark. Finding that news doesn't pay any better on the radio than it does in print, KFWB has gone all talk all the time.

Laura Schlessinger was a free ball, so KFWB grabbed the good doctor and decided to go native and jettison all...

August appears to be the cruelest month. With representatives returning home to meet with constituents to talk about the pressing issues of the day, the Right Wing has unleashed a mob to overwhelm every town hall meeting and ambush every member of Congress who dares to support President Obama's healthcare...

Fueled by the books of Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, among others, and by the recent release of films such as Food, Inc. and Food Fight, a lot of people are talking about food policy in the United States.

With so many people suffering from diabetes,...

For months now pundits have put a spotlight on ex-VP Dick Cheney as he hopped from fireplace-chat to podium accusing President Obama of failing to protect the American people from terrorists. To make his case, he used sweeping generalizations and, according to some, gross exaggerations and misrepresentations of the...

No, no, no, Governor, with all due respect, the special election results DO NOT validate your position. The voters DO NOT want you to slash and burn your way through state services with your famously dull 10%-to-all-departments axe.

With the propositions defeated, what conclusions can be drawn about...

Neil A. Lewis in today's New York Times reports that Republicans are threatening a filibuster to prevent the confirmation of Dawn Johnsen because, according to Senator John Cornyn of Texas, "Ms. Johnsen lacked the 'requisite seriousness' to head the Office of Legal Counsel."

As a law professor at...

Conservative pundits say we should feel the pain. Let the auto makers declare bankruptcy. If homeowners can't pay their mortgages, let the banks foreclose. Let the market decide. Let the weak die. The country has to be strong.

Emotionally callous, intellectual dishonest, the one modicum of truth in these statements...

That's the question of the moment. Ads on TV, in newspapers, on line, in magazines, on billboards, buses, subways, just about everywhere you look, make suggestions about what to give your lover to show how much you treasure her: romantic dinners, cruises, hot air balloon rides, diamonds, earrings, pearl necklaces,...