The same U.S. news media that are conveying the preciousness of children so terribly harmed in Boston are scarcely interested in children like Guljumma.

I don't like the idea of an unmanned aircraft buzzing in the skies around my neighborhood (even police helicopters are annoying) with the sole purpose of collecting information by filming the activities of citizens who have not broken the law.

There are many orthodoxies -- religious, political, philosophical and more. Like all other tyrannies, they seek conformity. Orthodoxy is to the mind as tyranny is to the person.

In our best moments, we Americans aspire to be the City upon a Hill. Recently, however, it feels like we're the City of Apoplectic People Yelling at Each Other and Stockpiling Weapons Upon a Hill.

My Orwell came back to me when I saw Romney's new car commercial that's running in Ohio, not only the most crucial swing state but also a place where they build a lot of cars.

Romney/Ryan have piously wrapped themselves in the rhetoric of "bipartisanship." As with much of the bombast coming from their campaign, it is manifest nonsense.

It's a strategy that has for the most part gone unpenalized by a media which seems resigned to playing sportscaster when its real duty is referee, having manacled itself with the irrelevance that comes in the service of "balance."

It's far too early to tell what the overall impact of the Occupy Wall Street movement will be on American politics. One year later, we know that the action in Zuccotti Park changed the conversation by putting economic injustice back on the nation's radar.

'Progressive.' There's a word that's bandied about a fair amount in politics on both sides of the pond. But what does it actually mean?

For those who believe in a society, that to some degree we are all in this together, there are three choices: resist change, stagnate or progress. So far, no one has discovered how to progress without the institutions of government.