Wondering if his publisher liked the manuscript of "Les Miserables," Victor Hugo sent a terse note: "?" His publisher replied as tersely: "!" That was the nation's response to Barack Obama's inaugural address, even though - or perhaps because - one of his themes, delicately implied, was that Americans do not just have a problem, they are a problem. ...more

January 21, 2009

In the first year of his presidency George W. Bush was forced to confront the crisis of global terrorism. He responded by aggrandizing his power as president under the theory of a "unitary executive." The controversial and thoroughly repudiated policies that resulted, including warrantless surveillance of Americans' phone conversations, torture, and disregard for the basic constitutional rights of detainees, represented the most sweeping assertion of unchecked executive power in generations. ...more

January 3, 2009

Vice President Dick Cheney blamed Congress for failing to bail out the auto industry, saying the White House was forced to step in to save U.S. car companies. ...more

December 21, 2008

You can thank an "older American" that our Constitution provides for a separate and strong executive branch. ...more

November 3, 2008

Few observers of Florida's gambling mess are surprised that it has come to this puzzling point. ...more

July 8, 2008

Prime Minister Fuad Saniora assured his country Saturday that the military was in control of the streets while lawmakers struggled to overcome a political crisis that has left the country without a president. ...more

November 25, 2007

President Bush's choice for attorney general told senators Friday the Constitution does not prevent the president from wiretapping suspected terrorists without a court order. ...more

October 27, 2007

Modern conservatism begins with Edmund Burke. What Burke articulated was not an ideology or a creed, but a disposition, a reverence for tradition, a suspicion of radical change. ...more

October 9, 2007

Presidents don't have indefinite veto power over which records are made public after they've left office, a federal judge ruled on Monday. ...more

October 2, 2007