President George W. Bush has been stingier with his authority to grant pardons than any chief executive since World War II. ...more

December 2, 2008

Can you name all three branches of the U.S. government? Do you know who Susan B. Anthony was? Do you know what rights the First Amendment guarantees? Most American's don't. That's according to a report from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that surveyed about 2,500 randomly selected citizens, asking them 33 basic questions about history, government and economics. ...more

November 24, 2008

"The Last Lincolns: The Rise & Fall of a Great American Family," by Charles Lachman (Union Square Press, $24.95) ...more

November 2, 2008

"Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln," by John Stauffer (Twelve, $30) ...more

November 2, 2008

There are two major political parties in America, but there are at least three major political tendencies. The first is orthodox liberalism, a belief in using government to maximize equality. The second is free-market conservatism, the belief in limiting government to maximize freedom. ...more

October 28, 2008

In 1948, I was 12 when my great-grandmother told me about the time she saw Abraham Lincoln come through her family's little community of Smoke Hole, W.Va. The truth is, her parents told her the story because she was only an infant at the time. ...more

October 5, 2008

Is the McCain-Palin rhetoric signaling a reformed Republican Party or a new third party? Let's take a look at history: ...more

September 26, 2008

Is the McCain-Palin rhetoric signaling a reformed Republican Party? ...more

September 25, 2008

Michael E. Long loved history and had a fondness for teaching his students about the Civil War and the Lincoln assassination. ...more

September 17, 2008

Hernando County Public Library System will offer the following programs: •Teen Game Day will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. today at the Spring Hill Branch Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive. Rockband, Guitar Hero, Internet games and Wii games will be featured. A drawing for an iPod Nano will be held at 4 p.m. for teens that participate in Game Day, but teens must be present to win. Teens 12 to 17 years old are invited. The program is sponsored by the Friends of the Library of Hernando County. For more information, call the library program staff at 352-540-6391. ...more

July 25, 2008