With the recent tragic event at Fort Hood, I wonder if anyone will stop and consider the operational tempo our men and women in today's military are faced with. I am retired from the USAF. I have a son in the USAF who just returned from a six-month deployment to Afghanistan. Many of the young men and women at places like Fort Hood have deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan four and five times for six to 18 months at a time, facing conditions and dangers that most of us can't even imagine. I hear lots of political rhetoric about how great they are and what a wonderful job they are doing. We now debate a plus-up of the number of troops we have in place. ...more

November 9, 2009

If we can get past the political rhetoric, we might identify what the real angst is about health care reform. ...more

September 12, 2009

Buoyed by Barack Obama's victory in Florida last month, state Democratic Party Chairman Karen Thurman on Saturday took aim at one of her next targets: Gov. Charlie Crist. ...more

December 20, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. - With Hurricane Gustav surging toward the Gulf Coast, the time for contentious politics at the GOP convention is over. Now, it's time for ... more subtle politics. ...more

September 1, 2008

Regarding "At Least Gore Offers A Plan" by Marsha Mercer (Other Views, Aug. 4): ...more

August 11, 2008

When most of us look at income statistics, we are not just being numbers junkies. We want to find out something about actual flesh-and-blood human beings - specifically what their standard of living is like. ...more

November 26, 2007