After a week of enduring the crossfire over the relative benefits and dangers of the deeds of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, I am left wondering whether this has been good or bad for our nation.

For a movement that gets queasy at the thought of most war, the modern left surely fancies itself as experts on what war looks like-- and through their eyes, war breaks out at the very glint of opposition to their agenda.

“That government is best which governs least.” Probably the best seven-word explanation of conservatism in the history of language. For that reason, you will often hear it attributed to Thomas Jefferson or Thomas Paine.

“By Allah, by the almighty Allah, we swear we will never stop fighting you.”

It is hard to point to one thing as the worst element of the current scandal over the Benghazi cover-up. But there’s something that belongs on the list that has not been mentioned enough.

Welcome to a recurring feature when I simply can’t pick one issue to spread over one full column—a checklist of things we’ve learned in the past few days, whether uplifting or discouraging.

As President Obama joined four ex-presidents for the dedication of a facility honoring his immediate predecessor, comparisons were unavoidable.

As this week’s gun control vote settles in, and as the President urges you toward angst and distress that compounds your already profound pain, I want to give you a different perspective that offers love, empathy and clarity.

It is hard to imagine a more inspiring occasion. The graduation ceremony for Johns Hopkins University Medical School was set to welcome the man who has brought it so much attention lately-- Dr. Ben Carson, the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery whose observations on culture and politics have earned him millions of new fans in recent months.

Full disclosure: I am a child of the Johnny Carson era. That means I grew up with the sound of Johnny’s “Tonight Show” monologues in my ears, his sense of humor helping to shape my own.

In one stunning moment Tuesday from the Supreme Court bench, we saw a very smart man say something of such profound stupidity that it should shake our very faith in some of the people who wear our loftiest judicial robes.

You can’t blame President Obama for making a beeline to a convention hall filled with students during his Israel trip. If there is any group that has shown a particular susceptibility to his snake oil, it is the soft, impressionable minds of those at the cusp of adulthood.

In conversations with those opposed to the notion of drone attacks against U.S. citizens, on or away from American soil, I ask a question as a consistency test: Is your opposition based on a blanket principle that no President should have such power, or is it a spurred by a mistrust of the current administration?

For a man unknown to most of America a month ago, Dr. Ben Carson is suddenly everywhere.

Something odd happened a few months ago as I weighed the various aspects of the dreaded Sequester Monster, a creature vilified across party lines.

For the conservative willing to endure it, President Obama’s State of the Union address was actually a handy lesson in how the left garners support for barrages of spending.

I will be at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas on Monday, and I know I will take many of you with me in spirit.

The first line of attack in political battles is language. Getting people to phrase things your way is the first step to getting them to think your way.

When it comes to Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” there are two kinds of people-- those who have seen it and those who should.

Before examining the ridiculous controversy stemming from Monday night’s college football championship broadcast, let us stipulate that there are more urgent and scary ways to describe the current changes in America.