The statements and actions of the Westboro Baptist Church are precisely the sort of offensive, unpopular, marginal viewpoint that the First Amendment was designed from Day One to protect.

What are we to make of the news that career State Department staffers are refusing to go to Iraq?

Obesity has now reached the point where serious engineering consequences are required.

It's a far better thing, as well as much easier, for government to act to prevent a disaster, or at least to warn residents loudly and clearly of the potential consequences of their foolish choices.

Why such a difference between the handling of the California fires, vs Katrina in New Orleans?

We all know what Rudy believes. Like no other politician in America, he can be trusted to do as he says he will do - like it or not.

It would be a very good idea to have a standard system for maintaining health care records, but having the government spend money on this is a bad idea.

These bridges have needed fixing for 25 years and they're still operating?

What is not acceptable, what is a non-starter, is the notion that we can dispense with the law.

Somewhere in the Great Beyond, Hermann Goering is laughing.