I figured Andy Breckman would have big plans tonight given that the television series he created, and for which he wrote the final episode, will get its curtain call. But it sounds like there will be more excitement at my household of "Monk" fanatics than his.

"This...

United States Senator Arlen Specter -- former chairman and current member of the Senate Judiciary Committee -- would like to see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed's federal court trial be televised.

"I'd be for that. Absolutely," the senator told me one day after questioning Attorney General Eric Holder about the decision...

Customs officer Jose Melendez-Perez stopped the 20th terrorist, who was supposed to be on Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania. Probably because of the shorthanded muscle on that team, the passengers were able to overcome the terrorists.

Melendez-Perez did this at great personal risk, because his colleagues and his supervisors...

It's too late for tea. At this stage the Republican Party needs a double espresso. Last week's demonstrations were just another of the post-election missteps for the GOP.

Signs with messages like "Hey Big Brother: Show Us Your Real Birth Certificate," "D.C.: District of Communism," and "Dear Obama, please...

I've decided.

My conclusion comes after reading the candidates' memoirs and campaign platforms, attending both party conventions, interviewing both men multiple times, and watching all primary and general-election debates.

John McCain is an honorable man who has served his country well. But he will not get my vote. For the...

In selecting his best possible running mate, Barack Obama has just handed John McCain a terrific opportunity.

Make no mistake: Sen. Joe Biden was a prudent pick. Senator Joe has the seasoning and foreign-policy experience that Obama lacks.

He has overcome personal adversity to lead an impressive career....

More than 130,000 Pennsylvanians joined the Democratic Party in the days and weeks leading up to our March 24 registration deadline.

I wasn't one of them.

I'm still a Republican, and while I won't have a vote in the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, like everyone else, I...

On Tuesday, this son of Eastern European stock drove into Center City to bear witness to a speech about race delivered by a candidate who described himself in his remarks as "the son of a black man from Kenya and a white woman from Kansas."

Rep. Patrick Murphy (D., Pa.),...

Welcome, Candidates! It's been a long time since Pennsylvania mattered in a presidential contest and we are elated to host you. As your self-appointed advance man, I offer the following survival tips for your seven-week sojourn into the Keystone state:

Pronunciation matters. When in Philadelphia, make certain that Olney is...

With the news that longtime Cuban leader Fidel Castro is stepping down, I was reminded of the chance I had six years ago to dine with Castro. After digesting that unique experience, I wrote in these pages, "Despite more than 40 years of effort, the Cuban embargo has failed miserably...

Eleven months ago, I wrote in the Philadelphia Inquirer that the key for Republicans to win Pennsylvania and the White House in 2008 was to focus on suburbanites who wanted a hawk on terror but a moderate on social issues.

"GOP presidential candidates need to focus on surviving primaries and...

I just got sued.

Go ahead. Laugh if you want.

No doubt some will say it's a fitting comeuppance for a former trial lawyer. It's not the first time I've been on the receiving end of a lawsuit, but no litigation against me has been successful.

A...

The world's gone mad.

A major Hollywood star appears devoid of all common sense when it comes to matters of religion, and the same malady is on display in the life of a leading presidential contender.

First, there's Tom Cruise. According to the just-out unauthorized biography of Cruise by...

I don't envy the voters of Bucks County, Northeast Philadelphia, and a small part of eastern Montgomery County.

Residents who compose Pennsylvania's Eighth Congressional District are going to cast ballots in 2008 that will likely require a particularly grueling political calculus: weighing the impact of a young Marine's tragic passing...

Maureen Faulkner thought she'd done all of the heavy lifting.

She'd spent three years recounting the complete story of her life, the murder of her police officer husband Danny, the trial of the man charged with the killing and the aftermath as the case became the highest profile death-penalty case...

Iowa caucus goers will cast their first ballots in the 2008 presidential race in just five weeks, and Rudy Giuliani, trailing rival Mitt Romney in the Hawkeye State, needs to spend every available moment campaigning there.

Yet on Tuesday, Rudy could instead be found in a state whose April primary...

I have a distinct recollection of one of my first lectures at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Stephen Schulhofer, a brilliant academic (he's now at NYU) who looked as if he'd responded to Central Casting's call for a liberal, was leading a discussion of the death penalty - and...

I have a distinct memory of a particular eighth-grade science class in junior high, circa 1976. When a buddy of mine was called on and asked to name the male and female genitalia, he quickly responded, "The penis and the Virginia."

That's stuck with me all these years. It's a...

"Mission accomplished."

That's the reaction of Marcus Luttrell to the news that Lt. Michael Murphy would be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. The presentation will be made to Murphy's parents by President Bush today at the White House.

Murphy's life and death are the stuff of storybooks. If only...

There are events in our lives that will forever be entwined with the person who broke the news.

I doubt you can recall the passing of a loved one without remembering who first told you. Any mention JFK's assassination reminds me of an emotional Walter Cronkite informing the nation of...