''On or about December 1910," Virginia Woolf wrote, "human character changed.'' We can be much more specific: "On November 4, 2008, just after 11 pm Eastern, America changed" (human character remains rather intransigent). The change was driven by two things: our country's remarkable capacity for regeneration, and Barack Obama's remarkable ability to tap into the better angels of our nature. Our president-elect is obsessed with Lincoln, and endlessly compared to FDR -- two transformational leaders who changed the country by both changing government policy and by using the bully pulpit to help us change ourselves.
There is a promise in Obama's election that goes beyond any explicit pledge made during the campaign. That potential may be found in the reaffirmation of America's identity as a true land of opportunity.
Today we are sorely lacking informed public debate on national security and what it means to serve just when today's threats put us beyond the protection of the armed services.
Can the media be faulted if one candidate is committing the major share of gaffes or making the most inaccurate statements in speeches and in ads? Is it "bias" to recognize that?
Now that Detroit is begging for a handout to save itself, Congress should demand in return a serious, long-overdue increase in fuel efficiency standards for new cars and trucks.
If we are serious about moving the US into a post-partisan, or at least a less partisan, phase, it is neither fair, reasonable nor wise to place all the burden of doing this on the president-elect.
Created by veterans, for veterans, this innovative media campaign is like nothing America has ever seen, and it will finally turn the page on how veterans were treated in America after Vietnam.
However badly we'd love to flush the karmic toilet, how likely it is the forces that gave us Enron, Jack Abramoff, economic collapse and Blackwater has been humbled into changing their venal ways? Not a chance.
The passage of anti-gay ballot measures in a handful of states on Tuesday proves the culture wars have not yet ended. And Sarah Palin could prove to be a great warrior icon -- Alaska's own Athena.
All camps -- Stevens and Begich in the Senate race, and Don Young and Ethan Berkowitz in one of the House races with the strangest results -- are still at work. It feels like 2000 Bush-Gore around here.
I should have said that we need veterans to bring the values of leadership, honor and service to the civic life of this country.
I am no kid, I am definitely not wearing pajames and I am living in my own house, thank you! And I am seriously depressed about the prospect of Palin having a political future.
The Republicans overall now are hideous in matters of defense and foreign policy. Encouraging their perceived supremacy in those topics is a very bad idea for the country.
We must never forget the very real sacrifices already made by millions of American veterans who have been injured or disabled as a result of their service.
We have had a virtual news blackout on what is going on in the two states we're waiting for -- Missouri's presidential results, and Alaska's senatorial results. Here is what I managed to find out.
Just as our artists have given us great music to listen to since my return from Iraq, we are now using this music to help the hundreds of thousands of troops who face a host of struggles upon returning home.
If the Obama administration defines progressive Democratic policies in their own terms, and puts their moral arguments up front, they can claim linguistic custody of the center.
If Obama and Biden are seeking a pro-active and self-motivated secretary of state in harmony with their own visions, one that will command immediate respect, Kerry is looking better for the position every day.
Our top issue -- closing down Gitmo and shutting down the military commissions -- can be done as soon as he lifts his left hand, picks up the new presidential pen and signs an executive order.
