There is no debating that, under President Obama, corporate profits are at their highest levels in decades.
And there is no getting away from the fact - and this is a key point of discontent among many who are upset with the health care reform bill is it didn't go far enough. They say why isn't it in place now? Why don't I see some benefits now? All I see is the potential for losing insurance coverage, for premiums going up. That's hurting Obama.
When I'm on TV, I'm often talking to a conservative host. I may have another conservative arguing with me. You've got very limited time, and you're using 'sound-bite' type language.
Yesterday NPR fired me for telling the truth. The truth is that I worry when I am getting on an airplane and see people dressed in garb that identifies them first and foremost as Muslims. This is not a bigoted statement. It is a statement of my feelings, my fears after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by radical Muslims.
The question now is does Obama have any hope of raising money? I don't think he'll raise it out of the New York people, I don't think he's going to raise it out the Hollywood people, so where's the money going to come from for Barack Obama?
Apparently, the heart of opposition to new gun regulations is in the white community. Yet white people face far less daily violence with guns.
Alaska and Montana are not in the south but they definitely form part of the crimson tide of red states where Republicans are dominant.
As President Obama is inaugurated for a second time, the biggest political surprise is that gun control is now key to his political legacy.
Cable would not translate into the public radio universe.
Frederick Douglass had to teach himself how to read before standing up to defeat slavery.
Hikes in the debt ceiling - without any political demands from the opposition party - had been routine until President Obama took office.
In 2007 the 'dagger' of an idea that killed President Bush's effort at reforming the immigration system was lax border security.
Beyond budget fights, the Obama second-term agenda was supposed to be about passing comprehensive immigration reform.
Teddy Kennedy rose to become a liberal lion by collaborating with Republicans.
In 2008, when the real estate market blew up, it principally hurt older people who saw the value of their houses go down, along with their pension plans.
The 2012 presidential campaign's turn away from the classic, straight-up, American election - where the candidate who gets the most votes nationwide wins - is another sad reminder of the extreme political polarization distorting today's politics. No one talks about a 50-state strategy for winning the presidency these days.
