Columns

WASHINGTON -- For children, Christmastime may be the favorite holiday, even if their families don't celebrate the birth of Christ. The twinkling lights and aura of magic that suddenly transfigure the most plebian edifices are nearly as seductive as a round-trip ticket to Never-Never Land. For adults, invariably, the favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. The reason is simple: Compared to all others, Thanksgiving is a relatively stress-free holiday.

As an organization that often advocates for the protection of children, especially those who suffer from severe, life-threatening conditions, the American Lung Association has worked hard over the years to convince lawmakers to pass bills that provide lifesaving measures for kids.

"Iran's Nuclear Triumph" roared the headline of the Wall Street Journal editorial. William Kristol is again quoting Churchill on Munich.Since the news broke Saturday night that Iran had agreed to a six-month freeze on its nuclear program, we are back in the Sudetenland again.

In a Nov. 18 article, Vetting Process is Clearly Nonexistent in Floridas Democratic Party,I discussed multiple questions that arose from my own and others personal accounts of meetings with Democratic primary candidate William Rankin who is running for state of Florida CFO.

There is good news for the Space Coast -- for Brevard County, the Kennedy Space Center and all of Florida now that America is developing the Orion spacecraft and the Space Launch System (SLS).

WASHINGTON -- For concision and precision in describing Barack Obama's suddenly ambivalent relationship with his singular -- actually, his single -- achievement, the laurels go to Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La. After Obama's semi-demi-apology for millions of canceled insurance policies -- an intended and predictable consequence of his crusade to liberate Americans from their childish choices of "substandard" policies sold by "bad apple" insurers -- Scalise said:

The defects of the Obamacare website have become well-known. But the problems with the law go further than the website. These problems are not incidental, but central to its design and the intentions of its architects.

By 1968, Walter Lippmann, the dean of liberal columnists, had concluded that liberalism had reached the end of its tether.In that liberal epoch, the 1960s, the Democratic Party had marched us into an endless war that was tearing America apart.Lyndon Johnson's Great Society had produced four "long, hot summers" of racial riots and a national crime rate that had doubled in a decade. The young were alienated, the campuses aflame.

What he was, he was: What he is fated to become Depends on us. -- W.H. Auden, "Elegy for JFK" (1964) BOSTON -- He has become fodder for an interpretation industry toiling to make his life malleable enough to soothe the sensitivities and serve the agendas of the interpreters. The quantity of writing about him is inversely proportional to the brevity of his presidency.

Joe Scarborough is out with a new book again, lecturing conservatives on the best road forward. Here's the first sign it should be ignored (just like the previous ones): It will be reviewed by The New York Times, while Mark Levin's truly important, best-selling books are not.It's the same formula for the Scarborough TV tour: an appearance next to Barbara Walters on ABC's "The View," spots on "CBS This Morning" and "Charlie Rose: The Week" on PBS. The liberal media really want Scarborough to tell Republicans what to do. And why not? Might that be because their recommendations are similar?

"Let the public service be a proud and lively career. And let every man and woman who works in any area of our national government, in any branch, at any level, be able to say with pride and with honor in future years: I served in the United States government in that hour of our nations need.' President John F. Kennedy trumpeted this clarion call to a new generation in his inaugural address, Jan. 20, 1961.

"The Affordable Care Act's political position has deteriorated dramatically over the last week." That, coming from longtime Obamacare cheerleader and Washington Post blogger Ezra Klein, was pretty strong language. And it was only Wednesday.That was the day after the release of a devastating Quinnipiac national poll. It showed Barack Obama's approval rating at 39 percent, with his disapproval rating at 54 percent -- sharply down from 45 percent approval and 49 percent disapproval on Oct. 1, the day the government shutdown began andhealthcare.govwent into (limited) operation.

WASHINGTON -- Let's recap: If you like your insurance policy, you can keep it. No, wait. If you liked your policy, it was probably worthless anyway. Scratch that. If your junk policy was canceled and you still want it, you can keep it. Er, get it back.

Colorado, writes National Journal's always insightful Ronald Brownstein, is"America, writ small." "A microcosm," he goes on, "of the forcesdestabilizing American politics."Of course, Colorado is not entirely typical of the nation. It has America'slowest rates of obesity, for example -- because of a young population andbecause most Coloradans live a mile or more above sea level. You burn morecalories there just getting out of the car and walking to the mall.

"Even if it takes a change to the law, the president should honor the commitment the federal government made to those people and let them keep what they got." -- Bill Clinton, Nov. 12 WASHINGTON -- So the former president asserts that the current president continues to dishonor his "you like your plan, you can keep your plan" pledge. And calls for the Affordable Care Act to be changed, despite furious White House resistance to the very idea.