Columns

NEWARK, N.J. -- Gov. Chris Christie could be forgiven if he had chips on both shoulders as big as those shoulders. This year, the first of his second term, has been overshadowed by often partisan investigations, more protracted than productive, of the involvement of several of his former aides -- he fired them -- in the closing of some access lanes to the George Washington Bridge.

WASHINGTON -- Words have a way of seeping into our vocabulary and, through overuse or distortion, soon begin to lose their meaning. Who could have imagined that the word "beheading" would become commonplace, as though we were discussing a sport or a new product?

Youve already heard about Charlie Crists New Insurance Plan. A rewrite of the historical record ignoring some facts and distorting others to obfuscate damage from the first insurance plan he pushed through in early 2007.

As most already know, the energy growth in the U.S. during the early and mid-20th century has been overwhelmingly positive. It has led to high productivity, rapid economic growth, and unimagined technological progress raising our standard of living across the board.

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is both a danger in itself and a wake-up call for Americans -- about President Obama, about the institutions of this country and, most important, about ourselves.

MaryEllen Elia, the superintendent of Hillsborough County representing the states school superintendents, asked the state Board of Education for a moratorium on Florida's high-stakes testing accountability system.

The London Daily Mail reportsAmazon.comnow issues a content warning to viewers before they live-stream the second volume of classic "Tom and Jerry" cartoons. Viewers are lectured the cartoons "may depict some ethnic and racial prejudices that were once commonplace in American society. Such depictions were wrong then and are wrong today."

Recently, a column of mine drew heavy response from an excited group of Hispanics far to the left who disagreed substantially with the points I made.

Republicans seem to be pulling away in the race to win a majority in the U.S. Senate. At least this week.In mid-September, several polls seemed to be going the other way. The well-informed Washington Post analyst Chris Cillizza wrote that for the first time in this election cycle, odds favored the Democrats keeping their majority.

WASHINGTON -- You can win midterm elections without a positive agenda. You can't win presidential elections that way. It is therefore vitally important for Republicans to win the Senate in 2014. Here's why.

"The legislative department is everywhere ... drawing all power into its impetuous vortex." -- James Madison, Federalist 48 WASHINGTON -- Unfortunately, Congress's vortex now spins the other way, throwing off powers that the executive scoops up. Hence this autumn's spectacle: Feverish House and Senate candidates waging ferocious campaigns to win or retain offices that are of rapidly diminishing significance.

WASHINGTON -- It has long been accepted by the conventionally wise that the Republican Party is waging a "war on women." Let's be clear. The war on women is based on just one thing -- abortion rights. While it is true that access to abortion has been restricted in several states owing to Republican efforts, it is not true that women as a whole care only or mostly about abortion.

The median American household saw its net worth decline by 36 percent during the Great Recession. That is a hard reality. A Republican held the White House when the crash hit, and voters, in no mood to be charitable, blamed the GOP. Besides, Democrats were ready with an explanation that slid right into an existing groove of American thinking: The financial crisis was caused by Republicans going easy on their big banker friends.

Putting aside, for the moment, the incident in Ferguson, Mo., there is evidence that police work has changed dramatically and not always for the better.

By now, everyone knows that there's a revolving door between Democratic politics and the "objective" news media. But does it have to spin so fast? On Sept. 10, CNN announced it hired former White House press secretary Jay Carney as a commentator, citing his "invaluable voice for the network" after his five years inside the Obama administration.