On a night when some said, in light of recent tragic events, that he should scale back the comedy, or not try to be funny at all, President Obama once again turned in a stellar standup comedy performance at the White House Correspondents' Dinner.

Other presidents have sometimes been funny,...

As a Jewish comedian, it would have been easy to follow the herd in jumping on Justin Bieber's remarks after he visited the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. Except, unlike other comedians and self appointed pundits, I actually read carefully all of Bieber's words. "Truly inspiring to be able to...

There was a lot more to Rand Paul's 13-hour filibuster than the misguided Hitler and Jane Fonda references (not at the same time), Marco Rubio's obligatory water joke and Ted Cruz's monotone recitation of identical Twitter comments.

In fact, what was most noteworthy was what wasn't said, and who wasn't...

In 1997, Elissa Montanti was asked to write a song to raise money for children injured in war torn Bosnia. That led to a meeting with Bosnia's Ambassador to the UN Muhamed Sacirbey who showed her a letter that read:

"My name is Kenan Malkic, I am 14 years old...

Once again, my 94-year-old father has an observation that I wish I had thought of first.

Presidential appointments, from cabinet secretaries to department heads to judges, should not require the "advice and consent" of the increasingly partisan and obstructionist Senate.

As was glaringly obvious from the Republican witch hunt that...

The morally and intellectually bankrupt Republican Party has repeatedly used the politics of personal destruction to try to bring down the Obama administration. And Susan Rice is its latest victim.

After winning decisively in 2008, President Obama has been subjected to an unprecedented barrage of personal attacks. Those in the...

The fiscal cliff Americans are being told to fear is really a fake cliff built on a cable news set, using green screen technology and computer generated imagery.

And the cable news industry are the only players in this fake crisis who will benefit from the breathless countdown to...

The grownups won on Election Day. Sanity prevailed. Logic ruled. For once, almost everything seemed to make sense.

President Obama's reelection, the Democratic victories in the Senate, the support for marriage equality and the outright rejection of misogynistic voices, made this a night to remember.

Despite four years of...

The only silver lining in the ongoing tragedy that is Hurricane Sandy was the temporary cessation of endless repetitive punditry about the presidential election. Unfortunately, since the networks can only report actual news without commentary for just so long, the pundits on the right and the left are back.

In last night's second Presidential debate, Mitt Romney once again tried to hide the "severely conservative" views he espoused just a few months ago.

But there's one thing Romney can't hide. He is a bully. Not a physically menacing one, but a whining, controlling, my way or the highway kind...

After the presidential and vice-presidential debates, there was more talk about how the candidates reacted to each other instead of what they actually said.

Instead of critiquing the content and veracity of their policy positions, pundits and casual observers fixated on the reaction shots of the candidates. In last night's...

After listening to the chorus of Obama debate bashing by liberal pundits on MSNBC and elsewhere, I felt as if I had watched a totally different debate.

I thought the president did an excellent job, and came off cool, confident and informed. Mitt Romney seemed agitated, anxious and out of...

As someone who uses comedy to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, I was particularly impressed with President Obama's speech to the United Nations yesterday.

The president stood up for tolerance, acceptance, freedom of expression, and the belief that the citizens of the world have far more that unites...

Ever since this interminably long campaign began, commentators like myself have asked, "Who Is Mitt Romney?" I was even included in a viral video compilation of pundits asking that very question.

It took a secret recording of a speech to millionaire donors, but we now know who is the...

According to the Communications Act of 1934, since the airwaves belong to the public, television stations must operate in the "public interest, convenience and necessity."

ABC, CBS and NBC believe that airing reruns of drama shows fulfill that obligation better than covering the Republican and Democratic Conventions. Only the...

"What higher mission is there in life than helping an injured child?" asked Elissa Montanti yesterday at the ribbon cutting for the Dare To Dream House on Staten Island.

Ms. Montanti, author (with Jennifer Haupt) of the new book, I'll Stand By You: One Woman's Mission to Heal the Children...

Republicans are very good at making Americans feel bad.

And the best way to make Americans feel bad is to make them afraid. Very afraid.

The battle over the Affordable Care Act is the best example of Republicans using fear to scare Americans away from the real facts, with breathlessly...

Steve Friedman, the executive producer of MSNBC's new ensemble talk show, told the Huffington Post, "Cable television is programs about the news, it's no longer the news. Nobody turns on to find out what happens, because they already know from you guys. What people are interested in is...

Treason. Betrayal. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Hearing those words from other Democrats, you would think Bill Clinton, Deval Patrick and Cory Booker had all endorsed Mitt Romney. When what really happened was Clinton simply called Romney "a gentleman and a sterling businessman," Patrick said Bain Capital was...

Memorial Day sales have got to go.

To honor those who have given the ultimate sacrifice in battle, America's stores bravely slash prices up to 50 percent and more! You can hear the commercial announcer intoning, "They went to battle, so we could bring back these great savings for you!"