WASHINGTON -- Most would agree that one would have to stoop pretty low to question the story of a man's mother's death.

Washington -- A debt crisis is a terrible thing to waste in a presidential election season, and Democrats and Republicans alike are responding on cue.

NEW YORK -- This marks my 24th Father's Day as a columnist, my 26th since my son uttered "Dada," and my 16th since my own father joined the legions of Interesting People in the Hereafter.

NEW YORK -- Here we go all over again. Read my lips and bring em on. It's the economy, stupid. Gotcha!

WASHINGTON -- MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell says he'd own up if it were his. Jon Stewart says he doesn't remember his old friend being quite all that!

NEW YORK -- So why do Republicans hate art, the elderly and children?

Hint: Same reason parents hate their children when they say, "No." We could just leave it at that, but this is too much fun.

The demonizing of Republicans for trying to seriously address our desperately ailing economy surely begs for a new metaphor. The GOP has become the army of Mordor, fat-gobbed predators who feed on children while destroying all that is beautiful in their relentless pursuit of greed.

NEW YORK -- Whether the topic is Libya's rebels or Afghanistan's "reconciliation" with the Taliban, the pivotal question is, or should be: What about the women?

During my brief tenure as a CNN anchor, I insistently raised this question and was consistently disappointed by the answer, which more or less went like this:

"Yes, well, the women. Too bad about the women. They'll suffer."