Columns

WASHINGTON -- When you're Michael Steele, there's no waking up and thinking: Ahhhh, at least the worst is over. Whatever the week, Monday is the start of another very bad one. No exception to the trend, this week began dramatically.

"Anti-Catholicism," said writer Peter Viereck, "is the anti-Semitism of the intellectual." It is "the deepest-held bias in the history of the American people," said Arthur Schlesinger Sr. If there was any doubt that hatred of and hostility toward the Catholic Church persists, it was removed by the mob that has arisen howling "Resign!" at Pope Benedict XVI.

Few combinations are more poisonous than race and politics. That combination has torn whole nations apart and led to the slaughters of millions in countries around the world.

Last summer, I wrote a column framed as a letter to a young Obama voter. It concluded: "You want policies that will enable you to choose your future. Obama backs policies that would let centralized authorities choose much of your future for you. Is this the hope and change you want?"

Congress is out for one more week on its spring recess, and presumably the members of Congress are enjoying some quality family and constituent time. During a recent press event, U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, R-FL vowed to sponsor and support legislation to repeal the federal health-care law and replace it with anti-health-care fraud legislation.

Efforts in DC and Florida to Repeal /replace and educate re: Health Care reform

"Diplomacy has failed," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told AIPAC, "Iran is on the verge of becoming nuclear and we cannot afford that." "We have to contemplate the final option," said Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., "the use of force to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon." War is a "terrible thing," said Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., but "sometimes it is better to go to war than to allow the Holocaust to develop a second time."

CANTEYVILLE, S.C. -- If thy name is Incumbent, you might want to start packing up those D.C. tchotchkes. November is likely to be a cruel month. That, at least, is the view from Canteyville, which you wont find on a map. There is no town by this name in South Carolina, though there ought to be. Canteys are as common as front porches in this part of thecountry.

What did Gov. Charlie Crist know about Jim Greers alleged shenanigans and when did he know it? And shouldnt the media be looking just as deeply into the fundraising and expenditure records of the Florida Democratic Party?

Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp released his first-quarter fundraising numbers April 1. Kottkamp brought in $270,000 for his bid to become attorney general Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres, was the first Democratic major statewide candidate for office to release his first-quarter fundraising for 2010.

WASHINGTON -- What is it like to be a foreign ally of Barack Obama's America?