How Ali Became a Hero for 02/18/2012
Sixteen years after a trembling Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic flame to open the Atlanta games, his fire burns brighter than ever. Scores of stars and celebrities are gathering Saturday in Las Vegas for...
View ArticleJeremy Lin: Sports vs. Religion? for 02/25/2012
Jeremy Lin, the Taiwanese-American Harvard graduate who was not drafted by any team in the NBA but has had a stunning debut season playing point guard for the New York Knicks, has been the trigger for...
View ArticleRomney Used To Be Somebody for 03/03/2012
Romney impressed me. Ten years ago, he salvaged the Salt Lake City Olympics from ethical and fiscal problems. His image out of Utah was that of a super-capable, energetic problem-solving wizard, and I...
View ArticleRush, Barack, Rick and the Pope for 03/10/2012
I'm sorry, but I've got to talk about these apologies. Some apologies show weakness; some show strength. And some people can't tell the difference. Let's sort this out. First, Rush Limbaugh. I'm...
View ArticleBe Yourself -- Only Likable for 03/17/2012
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, fresh off third-place finishes in the South, faces a bracing test Tuesday in Illinois. If he loses there, we're likely to see panicky reactions in Camp...
View ArticleChanging a Toxic Culture for 03/24/2012
His career ascent had slowed. He was angry about the size of his bonus. He was about to be fired, so he decided to quit and get famous. Those are some of the things that have been said in the past 10...
View ArticleMoral Gerrymandering for 03/31/2012
Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum may be entering the final month of his campaign. He may lose both Wisconsin and Maryland on Tuesday. Then he faces three long weeks till the next...
View ArticleThe Wisdom of Doubt for 04/07/2012
The chief justice of the United States and I attended the same high school. I arrived on campus two years after he had left. He was a legend by then, already in his last year at Harvard College, where...
View ArticleRomney's Image Challenge for 04/14/2012
Hilary Rosen should have stayed at home — at least on Thursday, when she did Republicans a big favor by saying that Ann Romney has "never worked a day in her life." That offended millions of women,...
View ArticleRepublican Strategy on Minorities for 04/21/2012
In the summer of 1996, I was at the NAACP's national convention in Charlotte, N.C., talking to my old boss Kweisi Mfume, then president of the NAACP, when a staff member interrupted to tell Mfume,...
View ArticleFiguring Out John Edwards for 04/28/2012
John Edwards is on trial. Whether he is convicted will pivot on whether or not the money paid to his mistress amounted to illegal campaign contributions. But this is a little bit like going after Al...
View ArticleChen Is China's Answer for 05/05/2012
At this moment, inventive diplomats appear to have conjured up a short-term solution in the matter of Chen Guangcheng, the blind Chinese activist-lawyer who, on April 22, outwitted the thugs enforcing...
View ArticleIs the Tea Party 14? for 05/12/2012
"When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years." So...
View ArticleListen Up, You Billionaires! for 05/19/2012
Let's say you're a billionaire. You have strong political views. You want to make an impact in presidential politics. So you form a super PAC, and strategists start coming for your money. But not just...
View ArticleNo Gain, No Pain for 05/26/2012
In 2004, a writer named Warren St. John published a book about the mad passion of University of Alabama football fans, and it helps explain the election results this month in France and Greece — and...
View ArticleWorldview -- A Poor Foundation for Community for 06/02/2012
I just came back home from giving the commencement address at my high school in Indiana. A few months ago, when the headmaster invited me, I was disinclined to do it. I already had given a "do what...
View ArticleTo Be or Not To Be Nasty for 06/09/2012
It's not every day that the whole country turns its eyes on Wisconsin when the Packers aren't playing. Wisconsin's Republican governor, Scott Walker, survived his recall election Tuesday, and people...
View ArticleThank You, Mrs. Bush for 06/16/2012
My brother Matt died of AIDS 26 years ago today, passing away in his bed in my parents' home in Houston. It was a benighted time for people with AIDS. There were no antiretrovirals then. There was...
View ArticleMoney -- Don't Ask Why for 06/23/2012
I confess with some moral embarrassment that I find it entertaining to watch powerful people swagger their way into a pit. On June 8, a developer from Virginia Beach, Va., joined by a venture...
View ArticleRoberts' Restraint for 06/30/2012
Chief Justice John Roberts' opinion this week to uphold the Affordable Care Act was good news for the White House and good news for the Supreme Court, as well. A few weeks ago, a New York Times/CBS...
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