There is a basic and indelicate question about the unfolding financial crisis that, to my mind, has not been asked loudly enough: Is the ethical and prudential rot so clearly on display in this historic episode confined to Wall Street and the world of high finance, or are other institutions,...

Every contrarian and mischievous bone in my contrarian and mischievous body wants to write a column vigorously defending Sarah Palin. She is at risk of being devoured by a perfect storm of Washington establishment outrage, media frenzy and intellectual or religious snobbery. What an underdog.

But I quite can't do...

The Democratic Party, as assembled and packaged at its national convention, does not seem especially proud that it is about to become the first major American political party to nominate an African-American to be president.

Pragmatism, tactics and spin aside, this is disappointing and will add a footnote of embarrassment...

I know the prospect of reading a column about Fannie Mae, the mortgage crisis and government bailouts is as appealing as a bowl of cough syrup. So let's consider the latest news about the giant company something young parents today call a "teaching moment."

The lesson is about this old...

CBS News and CBSNews.com are doing something completely new in the history of broadcast journalism (pre- and post-cable) and, despite the risks of shameless self-promotion and saying anything good about MSM when one works for MSM, I want to write about it.

On Monday we launched a blog called...