Columns

It is reminiscent of the quandary faced by Gen. Maurice Gamelin on the evening of May 15, 1940. Suddenly he realized that German panzer troops had broken through the supposedly impassable Ardennes. French troops to the north were cut off and rendered useless, troops to the south were falling back in disarray on all sides and no reserves were available between the front and Paris. "Yes," he told the prime minister, "it means the destruction of the French Army."

WASHINGTON -- "Once an agent, always an agent." This was the terse response of Nina Khrushcheva on New Year's Eve 1999 when her mother commented favorably about the new president, Vladimir Putin, who was then speaking on TV.

There is a bipartisan push in the Florida Capitol to pass legislation which would grant in-state tuition (or an equivalent tuition discount) to illegal immigrants. As a fiscal conservative, I strongly disagree with the ideology, intent, and rationale of HB 851 and SB 1400.

Vladimir Putin seems to have lost touch with reality, Angela Merkel reportedly told Barack Obama after speaking with the Russian president. He is "in another world.""I agree with what Angela Merkel said ... that he is in another world," said Madeleine Albright, "It doesn't make any sense."

In marshes somewhere south of Lake Helen Blazes, the St. Johns River is formed. It slowly meanders north one of only a few rivers in North America that flow in that direction. Near the end of its 300-mile journey it turns east, passes in a broad swath through the city of Jacksonville, and then merges into the Atlantic Ocean.

WASHINGTON -- There's nothing quite so helpful as a fatwa and threats of a Christian boycott to create buzz in advance of a new movie. "Noah," scheduled for its U.S. release on March 28, has become such a target. The United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain have banned the movie because it depicts a prophet, which, as Danish cartoonists will attest, isn't the peachiest of ideas in certain circles.

We all want our loved ones to get the very best care when they no longer can live on their own and instead need the care that only a nursing home can provide.

Liberals view the term "compassionate conservatism" as an oxymoron. How could it not be so? they ask. After all, conservatives are greedy, and conservatism feeds that greed at the expense of the poor. It is preposterous for liberals to believe this because if it were true, conservatism would be not just wrong; it would be evil

WASHINGTON -- The president of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council challenges critics of President Obama's Ukraine policy by saying "What are you going to do, send the 101st Airborne into Crimea?" Not exactly subtle. And rather silly, considering that no one has proposed such a thing.

Florida Republicans must come to grips with a bill introduced by Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Shalimar, and Rep. Katie Edwards, D-Plantation, to legalize a strain of marijuana effective in helping children with certain conditions as well as a constitutional amendment placed on the ballot by Orlando lawyer John Morgan to legalize medicinal marijuana as prescribed by a doctor. Republicans should support both.

WASHINGTON -- In September 1958, a future columnist, then 17, was unpacking as a college freshman when upperclassmen hired by tobacco companies knocked on his dormitory door, distributing free mini-packs of cigarettes. He and many other aspiring sophisticates became smokers. Six years later -- 50 years ago: Jan. 11, 1964 -- when the Surgeon General published the report declaring tobacco carcinogenic, more than 40 percent of American adults smoked. Today, when smoking is considered declassee rather than sophisticated, fewer than one-fifth do.

WASHINGTON -- I must need to smoke pot. How else to explain why I wasn't getting President Obama's interview on "Between Two Ferns," the Web show hosted by Zach Galifianakis of "The Hangover" fame.

Just try to envision the scene: A newly elected Republican mayor of a large American city takes steps to close down some of the best schools serving an almost exclusively minority population. You know how it would go. We'd be hearing that Republicans "hate" the poor. The words "cruel," "vicious" and "racist" would circle the new mayor like sharks. News organizations would examine where the mayor sent his own children, and his hypocrisy would be fiercely denounced.

WASHINGTON -- What's been said of confession -- that it is good for one's soul but bad for one's reputation -- can also be true of testifying to Congress, so Lois Lerner has chosen to stay silent. Hers, however, is an eloquent silence.

In assessing the motives and actions of Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton compared them to Adolf Hitler's. Almost always a mistake.After 12 years in power, Hitler was dead, having slaughtered millions and conquered Europe from the Atlantic to the Urals.