Under the Fourteenth Amendment, children born in the United States are citizens, even if their parents are not. Inspired by Arizona's new (and partially suspended) law regulating unauthorized immigration, Senators Mitch McConnell, John Kyl, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, Representative John Boehner, and other Republican leaders have proposed considering amending the...

The late George Steinbrenner was one of the most dynamic owners in the history of baseball. In the long run he will rank with Branch Rickey, Bill Veeck and others who changed the game. He was the first modern owner who actually took his role seriously. Like any CEO...

The election is over, and America is now forever changed. This is the only way to understand the spectacular rise of Barack Obama. When Obama was born in 1961 segregation was still legal in a third of the nation. The majority of blacks lived in the South, where few could...

John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Alan Arthur, Calvin Coolidge, Gerald Ford. Most Americans could not tell you much about these former U.S. presidents. Some are even joke names. Mad Magazine used to throw out Millard Fillmore's name in order to make people laugh.

We know who they...

Barry Bonds is a free agent. He wants some team to sign him, to play one more season. According to this week's Sports Illustrated, Bonds is willing to play for the MLB minimum, prorated for the rest of the season. That's about $150,000 for the rest of the season. What...

A year ago everyone assumed that by the early winter of 2008 Hillary Clinton would have locked up the Democratic nomination for president. She had money, name recognition, and a seemingly well-oiled machine. Now she is on the ropes, fighting to stay in the race. What happened?

Senator Clinton...

Since the release of the Mitchell Report we have been inundated with editorials, commentaries, outrageous headlines (such as a picture of Roger Clemens under the headline "He Took it in the Butt"), and interviews about steroids, human growth hormones, and other substances taken by baseball players over most of...

I just spent a few days at Yale University with about 25 scholars, talking about slavery, freedom, emancipation, and modern problems of human trafficking. Not surprisingly, at dinner someone asserted that George W. Bush was the "worst" president in American history. That led me to think about the criteria for...

This year the major parties held firm on the tradition that Iowa and New Hampshire should kick off the presidential campaigns. Last week, for example, the Democratic Party stripped Michigan of its votes at the national convention because, in violation of Party rules, Michigan is holding a primary before February...

The Mitchell Report is on the way. By the time you read this, the report may be out. Undoubtedly it will show that many baseball players used steroids. Most people will be focusing on what we do now? How do we deal with the records (most obviously Barry Bonds'...