There are not many men in history who have a chance to truly make a difference in this world. Ted Kennedy was a man who found himself in that position over and over again and never shrank from his responsibility. Perhaps this sense of responsibility was made even more profound by the fact that... »

Bush’s Legacy project just got a little bit more difficult this week with the announcement that the Justice Department will be investigating the use of torture by the CIA during the Bush administration. The investigation will be narrowly focused on those specific acts of torture and abuse that went beyond the legal directives put... »

Sometimes conspiracy theories really do come true. In Tom Ridge’s upcoming book he outlines several scenarios where he felt pressure to raise the terror alert levels to artificially high levels for purely political reasons. What a big surprise. Actually, as dirty deeds from the Bush administration go, this doesn’t seem to be a very... »

What are the consequences of the conservatives push to derail health care reform? 1. Higher costs for all Americans Nobody, on the left or the right, disputes the fact that health care costs are going to rise astronomically over the next ten years. Since the Republicans killed reform in 1994 and did nothing over the next... »

While the health care debate has focused on the question of public option or no public option it seems that idea of true universal health care has been forgotten. The only way to make sure that all Americans get access to the health care they deserve is to abandon the idea that insurance companies... »

The recent arrest of Harvard Professor Skip Gates has generated an intense debate among the media on the issue of race in this country. When the story first broke the instinctual reaction for some was that this arrest must have been about race. Why else would a black man be arrested in his own... »

It is hard to imagine that Sarah Palin has been in the national spotlight for less than one year. It seems that she has dominated the news cycle far more than any Governor of a small state or even a former vice presidential candidate could or should. To most of us on the left,... »

I have heard many in the news media refer to the Supreme Court hearings on Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination as boring and having very little real news value. Chris Mathews and Peggy Noonen even complained that she was “over coached” and stiff. A boring and uneventful nomination hearing was exactly what the President wanted for... »

As I watched the Supreme Court hearings the last couple of days, I was surprised but not shocked that the Republican Senators were being so tough on Sonia Sotmayor. It seemed, at first, to be completely counterproductive for the Republicans to continually repeat the same attacks over and over again with no expectation of... »

The dictionary defines a politician as: “a person experienced in the art or science of government”(the most generous definition) and a statesman as: “a person who exhibits great wisdom and ability in directing the affairs of a government or in dealing with important public issues.” Sarah Palin by no stretch of the imagination can be thought of as... »

There has been much talk about Dick Cheney’s motives for continually speaking out about President Obama’s policies making us less safe. Yesterday and today, for example, Leon Panetta was quoted as saying “It is almost like he wants this country to be attacked”. Ed Shultz has taken it even farther and truly believes that... »

Pat Buchanan has resurfaced as a reliably conservative sound bite machine for MSNBC this week over Obama’s Supreme Court Nominee. Pat seems to be singularly focused on the one issue of the white firefighters who filed a discrimination suit against New Haven Ct. The case, and Sotomayor’s ethnicity has combined for him into a... »

The day just wouldn’t be complete without a quick note about Rush Limbaugh. Rush predictably chimed in with his unique vision of Sonia Sotomayor. Rush just couldn’t help himself and had to make it all about race. The very fact that Sotomayor is Hispanic became the sole reason Obama nominated her and in turn,... »

While the right wing pundits spent time beating their chests and spitting into the gale force winds that constitute the Sotomayor nomination, the left were so confident in ultimate victory in this battle that they could spend their time analyzing the right’s strategy and tactics. Chris Mathews Hardball made it quite clear that the... »

For years, the right wing has been successful in labeling the left as socialist. From their ideological pure perspective, this seems perfectly natural. If you believe that capitalism and free markets will solve all problems and that “Government is the problem”, then anything that limits capitalism or expands government must be socialism and that,... »