BARACK OBAMA: TWO YEARS TO GO

I liked Obama from the beginning. I thought he was, to use the words of the late Stuart Scott of ESPN, cool as the other side of the pillow. I still like him. I’m fascinated by the way he goes about the business of being President. Stylistically, he’s no drama Obama. In Obama’s world, things

OBAMA: WE'RE LUCKY WE HAVE HIM

Yeah, I know his approval rating is only 44%, but that's a damn sight better than Regan's lowest of 35%, or Bush II at 25%. I'm familiar with Obamacare, and the website. But remember, he passed it and he hit the numbers he had to hit, and he stuck with Kathleen Sebelius all the way.

UKRAINE, CRIMEA, PUTIN, OBAMA

The conventional wisdom holds that Russia is not leaving Crimea; that Putin wants more; and that Putin has outmaneuvered Obama on the world stage. The conventional wisdom is about half-right. Russia Is Not Leaving Crimea Since the Russian incursion into Crimea, Vladimir Putin's popularity within Russia has soared. CNN has reported that he enjoys an

UKRAINIAN UPHEAVAL: CAN OBAMA AND PUTIN DO A DE-ESCALATION DANCE?

View Larger Map   If Viktor Yanukovych, the Russian-friendly President of Ukraine and his dentist son had been satisfied with stealing millions of dollars from the Ukrainian people instead of billions, the US-Russian confrontation over Ukraine and its autonomous province of Crimea would probably never have happened. Such, however, was not the case. The Yanukovych

IRRITANT

Bill O'Reilly is an angry, cowardly, pathetic boor. Many have known that for some time.  If you watch O'Reilly on an ordinary evening at 8pm, what you will see is a program that was taped at 5pm. O'Reilly's producers can clean up and retape the rough patches so his angry, over-the-top, childish spasms don't make it