So things are heating up in the Great White North, with the three Opposition parties attempting to overthrow a right-wing government that acts like it won with the will of the majority, but only limped into power with 38% of the total vote count.

Where it gets really...

There's an old inside-the-Beltway joke where a new House member is being shown around by a veteran of his own party. He is awed by entering the House floor for the first time, and is shown his new seat. He asks, pointing across the aisle to where the other party...

In his recent column, Prof. Robert Reich is saying that the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer; and that this is not good for the economy. I can agree.

As a remedy, Prof. Reich is recommending extended government spending. He does not say where the...

As we all saw on the morning of December 1, President-elect Barack Obama has clearly assembled a compelling national security team. As secretary of state, Hillary Clinton has the potential to be a highly effective and respected global diplomat. As secretary of defense, Robert Gates will provide excellent judgment...

The Battle Over Obama's Birth

Circulating the Internet for months have been the claims Barack Obama was not born in the United States, is not a natural born U.S. citizen, and, in fact, was born in Kenya. Of course, if Obama were not a U.S. citizen, he could not have...

Much was made before the 2008 Presidential election of the potential impact of the African American or youth vote on the election. Pundits claimed that both voting blocks would "carry" the election for Barack Obama. But what about women voters? The truth is that they came out in full force...

The debate among progressive activists and commentators in recent weeks has tended to range from the leave-Obama-alone-and-he'll-fix- everything position to the stage-a-protest- at-Obama's-house-for-the-next-month position, including numerous stances in between those extremes. What all these positions share is acceptance of the incredible shift of power from Congress to the White House...

Here's the count. You decide.

Dwight Eisenhower: 2 recessions
Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford: 2 recessions
Ronald Reagan: 1 recession
George H.W. Bush: 1 recession
George W. Bush: 2 recessions

Here are the Democrats:

John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson: no recessions
Jimmy Carter: one recession,...

President-elect Barack Obama holds an unprecedented meeting tomorrow with the nation's governors at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. He has called the meeting to discuss the impact of the ailing economy on state budgets and to outline key steps that need to be taken to revive the nation's economy. This...

Today I am unveiling the first three webisodes of my web-only "Interactive State of the City" simultaneously on San Francisco's city website, sfgov.org, and on YouTube.

Instead of a traditional speech behind a podium, this year I am delivering my State of the City address directly...

Forces calling for Healthcare Reform Now are gaining momentum. I share their sense of urgency -- assuming that they are talking about the "reforms" needed to create an effective, affordable, patient-centered health care system. But if by "reform," they simply mean "universal coverage," I have to disagree.

Granted, giving...

Welcome to the first in a three part installment on leadership challenges Barack Obama will face in guiding our country through these difficult times.

President-Elect Obama's words rang clear and true... "I came here today, not just to hold an office, but to gather with you to transform a nation...to...

Historic changes are rattling this country to the core. Rising economic fear, a reordering of global power, an assault on trust, the energizing promise of new leadership -- all are coming together to reshape the future and alter our expectations.

Last week's blog created a little bit of tension with some Zimbabweans, who felt that I exaggerated the situation in Zimbabwe. I stand by what I wrote, and believe that the current crisis in Zimbabwe is worse than the outside world knows.

It is no accident that a Human...

The times are unprecedented. Not since 1861 have we watched the last gasps of an outgoing administration with such anxiety. Then the nation was concerned with drift and inertia; now we watch for further ideological mischief.

Republicans were aghast in 2001 to discover that President Bill Clinton's staff allegedly...

Lots of folks are expressing concern over Barack Obama's appointments, and in my new newspaper column I offer three separate thoughts on the worries: 1) Don't worry so much, 2) Worry a little bit and make your worries heard and 3) What did you expect?

This last point is...

Reggie Love's athletic aspirations are on hold.

Long gone are the days captaining Duke basketball and also starring on the football team. And the 26-year-old's NFL dreams are long over, having been cut by the Green Bay Packers and released by the Dallas Cowboys.

Then, rather than accepting a lucrative...

Conservatism has become obsolete. Social progress and the practicalities of governance have revealed the fundamental and fatal flaws of conservative thought. Conservatives today are like followers of a religious cult milling about confused the day after their leader's prediction of Armageddon failed to materialize. The immediacy of the problem is...

One of the religious right's standard sputterings is that legalizing same-sex marriage will open the door to legalizing polygamy. Many of us have dismissed these sputterings as just another bogeyman that the right is conjuring up...one that will make voters afraid of gay people. After all, it usually comes in...