Marty Peretz and the American political consensus on Israel  —  Opinions about the Israeli-Palestinian dispute are so entrenched that any single outbreak of violence is automatically evaluated through a pre-existing lens, shaped by one's typically immovable beliefs about which side bears …

Obama bristles as the bubble closes in on him  —  HONOLULU - The media glare, the constant security appendage and the sheer production that has become a morning jog or a hankering for an ice cream cone - it's been closing in on Barack Obama for some time.  —  Now the president-elect appears …

Goodwin: Say goodnight, Caroline  —  In the beginning, just three long weeks ago, the idea of Caroline Kennedy being a United States senator had a certain ring to it.  The Camelot myth still has shelf life and a merger with the historic Obama presidency provided an intriguing story line.

You're Likable Enough, Gay People  —  IN his first press conference after his re-election in 2004, President Bush memorably declared, “I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it.”  We all know how that turned out.  —  Barack Obama has little in common …

2008 was the year manmade global warming was disproved  —  Looking back over my columns of the past 12 months, one of their major themes was neatly encapsulated by two recent items from The Daily Telegraph.  —  The first, on May 21, headed “Climate change threat to Alpine ski resorts” …

LtGov: Blagojevich out by Lincoln's 200th birthday  —  CHICAGO (AP) — The lieutenant governor of Illinois said Sunday he is certain scandal-plagued Gov. Rod Blagojevich will be out of office in less than two months.  —  Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn, speaking from Chicago, said on CBS' “Face the Nation” …

PAUL MULSHINE BLOWS IT.  In this Wall Street Journal column, he manages to conflate punditry with reporting (following in Nick Lemann's footsteps) while simultaneously engaging in a bit of misleading quotage that thoroughly undercuts his point.  —  My point, as quoted in his column …

Scientific illiteracy all the rage among the glitterati  —  When it comes to science, Barack Obama is no better than many of us.  Today he joins the list of shame of those in public life who made scientifically unsupportable statements in 2008.  —  Closer to home, Nigella Lawson …

Axelrod: Warren prayer ‘a good thing’  —  Top Obama adviser David Axelrod strongly defended the selection of evangelical pastor Rick Warren to deliver the opening prayer at the inauguration, telling moderator David Gregory on NBC's “Meet the Press” that the nation needs to get beyond “shaking our fists” across a political divide.