As my brother Kevin headed off to Christmas Eve Mass in the Maryland suburbs, I asked him how he thought the first year of Barack Obama had gone. ...more

December 30, 2009

John Reiniers in his Hernando Today's Sunday column noted "that the Democrats now have power that Republicans have never enjoyed." And that the Democrats "seem not to care about public opinion." ...more

December 30, 2009

Shhh. I'm in a trance. Each year at this time, I gaze into my crystal ball or lapse into a supernaturally induced trance to predict what will happen in the coming year. Here now, is Part I of Scott's Trance-Induced 2010 Year in Preview: ...more

December 30, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) - Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano conceded Monday that the aviation security system failed when a young man on a watchlist with a U.S. visa in his pocket and a powerful explosive hidden on his body was allowed to board a fight from Amsterdam to Detroit. ...more

December 29, 2009

Opinionated talk is big business on cable news networks when the sun goes down. But during the day, it's the complete opposite. ...more

December 28, 2009

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two House Democrats who favor a government insurance plan, a central element of health care legislation passed in their chamber, acknowledged today it might have to be sacrificed as negotiators work out a final agreement with the Senate. ...more

December 27, 2009

It's time to blow the whistle on two erroneous statements that opponents and proponents of the health care legislation being jammed through Congress have been making. Republicans have been saying that never before has Congress passed such an unpopular bill with such important ramifications by such a narrow majority. Barack Obama has been saying that passage of the bill will mean that the health care issue will be settled once and for all. ...more

December 27, 2009

Americans, it appears, will have health care reform whether we want it or not. And most of us don't want it, polls show. That doesn't seem to matter to Congress, which in a frenzy of deal-making came up with a near-incomprehensible mess of proposed changes to a health-care system that serves most people well. ...more

December 27, 2009

We're either on the verge of a new era in transparency in the federal government — or we're not. ...more

December 27, 2009

The "Girls Gone Wild" videos are a distressing metaphor for the health care legislation that was ramrodded through the Senate at 7 a.m. on Thursday. Senators — like the young women in the videos — really exposed themselves for what they are. ...more

December 27, 2009