Two African warlords were in the news in the last week and they did more than remind the world of their barbarity. One demonstrated the power of the social media. The other demonstrated the hypocrisy of the United States.

The first was Joseph Kony of Uganda about whom a nonprofit...

The squawking heads were all in such a rush to declare Mitt Romney the winner of the debate on Thursday night that they forgot to listen to what he actually said. Romney, in parrying Newt Gingrich's charge that he is the most anti-immigrant candidate, forcefully declared: "I'm not anti-immigrant. My...

A favorite talking point for politicians these days is that the deficit is too high. Since raising taxes is unthinkable, downsizing government is the only option, but no one can agree on what to cut.

Here is a suggestion that will reduce the deficit and the size of government, not...

Republicans like Nelson Rockefeller and Dwight Eisenhower must be spinning in their graves. They have to be wondering just how their party has degenerated into the midget of the month club.

In its increasingly desperate search to find a presidential candidate who is not Mitt Romney, the GOP is...

A number of commentators have struggled to link the Tea Party and the Occupy Wall Street protestors. Both groups seem to be grass roots, spontaneous expressions of popular discontent. They appear to occupy opposite ends of the political spectrum, however, and have different takes on the cause of, and the...

There are plenty of reasons not to take Herman Cain seriously as a presidential candidate. There is one, however, that is rarely mentioned. And it is more important than the ones the media are talking about.

The ones getting all the attention from the commentators are not...

The Republican Party's search for a presidential candidate is increasingly looking like a homeless man rooting through a dumpster. He picks up something that looks delectable, sniffs it, maybe takes a bite, but then rejects it in disgust and keeps on looking.

First, it was Donald Trump that was examined,...

Here is an article I wrote two and a half years ago that seems appropriate to repeat given the President's announcement on Friday regarding troop levels in Iraq. He should, but probably won't, take one additional step. As the troops leave, the State Department is left holding the bag. We...

There is an old joke, of sorts, about conflicts in the Middle East that has been around for as long as there have been efforts by outsiders to end them. A mediator, frustrated at the lack of progress, asks both sides to get serious. The stronger side replies, "Why should...

It has been observed for at least a century that England and America are two nations separated by a common language. Today there is another difference. England is interested in finding out how it came to participate in an unnecessary, illegal and immoral war. America is not.

Two years ago,...

It should be clear to all but the most steadfast of reality deniers that the strategy of the Republican Party for the presidential election next year is to cause another recession and hope the voters blame President Obama. If the economic outlook is even more dismal and they can pin...

Pity the poor political pundits. They have to make a living regardless of whether or not there is anything worth opining about. A 24/7 news cycle requires some creative writing. And that is why there is often so much ado about so little.

Take the recent debate...

While George W. Bush called it the War on Terror during his time in office, the War of Terror would have been a more accurate name. That's because it was used to scare voters into reelecting Bush despite an accomplishment-free first term. That strategy is now being used in Peru...

Peru had its presidential election on Sunday, and the outcome could not have been worse. Few Americans will care about that, but they should. The result is not just another example of Latin America's self-destructive tendencies. It may be America's future.

Here is what happened and why...

The whining noises of bombs being dropped have been heard loudly on the news of late. They are not caused by the missiles fired at Muammar Gaddafi's forces. They are the sounds being made by the many critics of President Obama's actions in Libya.

For some of those armchair...

This week's New York Times Sunday magazine features a story about Lori Berenson, an American citizen who was arrested in Peru in 1995 on terrorism charges. It rambles on for some 8300 words describing in great detail her personal life and how she has been living since her release from...

A new foreign policy with House Republicans or the sum of our fears?

With the Republicans taking over the House of Representatives, there has been much speculation about what policy changes will be made. The focus has been mainly on domestic issues, where the agenda is ambitious. The first priority...

The lame ducks had not even flown the coop before the assessments of the 111th Congress started to pour in. After months of partisan bickering and foot dragging, the achievements in the final days of the legislative session were truly impressive.

There are two feats that have been generally unrecognized...

If there were a Nobel Prize for political alchemy, there would be no doubt about who this year's winner would be. According to all the prognosticators, the Republican Party is about to turn a very large lump of steer manure into electoral gold.

The lump has a name -- "A...

In a world where little seems the same as yesterday and tomorrow is always uncertain, there are some constants. Even in politics, some things don't change.

A few lines from a fiery speech given by the president to a room full of fellow Democrats at a fund-raising dinner demonstrate this...