I'd like to know why sociologists can't decide whether movie sex and violence has any effect on children, but there's a universal consensus that even a glimpse of a Camel will force children to become lifelong smokers.

If you're uncertain when life begins, why not give the unborn the benefit of the doubt and oppose abortion?

I would also say Barack Obama has spent much, much, much, much more money than the Republicans.

Three explanations dominate speculation about what Obama is up to. The first is that he's trying to lay the groundwork for his successor, presumptive nominee Hillary Clinton. The second is that he's trying to pad his legacy. The third is that he's trying to 'troll' or bait the GOP into debating his agenda rather than pursuing its own. All are plausible, and none necessarily contradicts the others.

A lot of the things that Trump needs to do to be a popular president requires annoying his biggest fans.

If we say that anyone who 'moralizes' must be perfect morally then we are in effect saying no one can moralize.

Keep in mind that Eric Alterman is media critic for The Nation-a hysterically left-wing magazine dedicated to the proposition that corporate America, U.S. foreign policy and the Republican Party are criminal, racist or both. The simple reality is that, for him, the Democratic Party is far too conservative.