In the initial aftermath of the Sandusky story becoming national news and the frenzy of activity that reached a crescendo when living legend "Joe Pa" was relieved of his duties by Penn State's trustees, network cameras showed us a gathering of supportive students at the Paterno home. At various times...

The election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States marked the first time in history that we voted an African American into the highest office in the land. History. Progress. America!

Since that epic night, we've learned that the historical nature of the last presidential...

We rarely had to question our place in the world during World War II or the Cold War when good guys and bad guys were easier to identify. A clear narrative, whether in the form of opposing Hitler or containing the spread of "The Evil Empire," fueled our sense of...

For the next several days and weeks as we sift through the aftermath of the great midterm elections of 2010, the next partisan battle will play out. In this case, it won't be about elective office since those races have been decided. Instead, this war for hearts and minds will...

For weeks now the ad banner for the film, Waiting for "Superman" has been very prominent on The Huffington Post. The film has generated rave reviews (91 percent positive on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer). More importantly, it has stimulated robust conversation and debate around the subject of education reform. But...

The debate over the proposed building of an Islamic center and mosque a few blocks from "Ground Zero" has resulted in off the charts displays of demagoguery, shameless hypocrisy, and logical leaps that abandon any hopes of reason winning the day. Fundamental American values and beliefs have been tossed aside...

Earlier this month, Pakistani American Faisal Shahzad was arrested for attempting to detonate a vehicle filled with explosives in Times Square. For a moment in time, he became the face of Muslim America to many who fear that the type of chronic terrorism experienced in places like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and...

What used to occupy this space was my post objecting to Conan O'Brien's spending NBC money on non-funny skits just to waste the network's cash. I went on about how unfortunate it was to do so at a time when others are soliciting donations for causes of critical need such...

This week I had the privilege and pleasure of interviewing one of the finest gentlemen to grace the ranks of the broadcast journalism profession, Nick Clooney. Nick is old school in the best way possible, cut from the same cloth as his friend Walter Cronkite and one of his idols,...

A new exploitative media low was reached this week when the New York Post featured a front page story on Tiger Woods for something like the 19th straight day. This breaks the old record for a story worthy of cover placement previously held by the worst terrorist attack on US...

Red Ink Rising! That was the title of a session on the looming debt crisis I just attended at the National Press Club. The panel discussion was built around a report created by the Peterson-Pew Commission on Budget Reform and featured presentations by commission members. Comprised of Republicans, Democrats, and...

This past weekend, like many others in recent years, I spent the majority of my time watching my son's baseball team compete in their latest tournament. All players on the team are, or are about to become, 14 years old.

One of our more emotional players was experiencing some...

For weeks now I've been troubled by the lack of rationality exhibited by many of the protesters attending health care town meetings. The craziness we've witnessed has very little to do with serious political debate and too much to do with ignorance-fueled anger. The protesters' own words have revealed an...

This "birther" movement is wacky at best, and dangerous at worst. The fact that it has gained any traction at all as a matter of public discourse is a source of national shame. We are flirting with a new low. But could this insanity actually provide us with an opportunity...

During the recent wall-to-wall coverage of the death and burial of Michael Jackson, I was busy saying goodbye to someone closer to home. While he wasn't famous on the level of a superstar, quietly, over the course of the past several decades, he made a significant contribution to the world...

Wednesday, I had the privilege of screening an advance copy of a powerful new documentary that will premiere on the Fourth of July. The film, Journey Into America, will make its debut during the 46th annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) this weekend in Washington, DC....

During the spring of 1989, we watched that now iconic figure stand before a column of tanks in China and dreamed of the possibilities. Could the desire for freedom gain a major foothold in the world's most populous communist country? Were we witnessing the beginning of a pro-democracy revolution? Ultimately,...

While it's impossible to draw a direct connection between an act of insanity like this past week's murder at the Holocaust Museum and the hysterical rantings of media viruses like Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh, and Beck, a quick tour around the op-ed circuit and the blogosphere indicates that there is significant...