My family brought me from Cuba when I was three, so that I could be raised in a free society. When people ask me about my perspective on the US, I say that I am thankful that I live in a society that operates by the rule of law, not the rule of men. Behavior like what we are witnessing from this administration (to heck with the Congress, with the Constitution, the end justifies the means) makes me worry.

Bashir conveniently ignores how the entire Obama 2008 campaign was a cult of personality that was eerily reminiscent of the ascent of Stalin. Look at the "HOPE" bi-color poster, then look at Soviet political art from the 30s and 40s, and the Maoist propaganda from China's early years in communism. It's virtually identical. I DO, however, worry that the left will attack Santorum for his honest, conviction-based views on family issues - and it could hurt him. They will attack him in the same way they attacked Palin and Bachmann. It is intellectually dishonest, but may be successful. Even though I love Santorum, I support Mitt Romney. He's conservative, but will be more palatable to less-informed, more naive independents.

Greg, I think you've missed the point here. As a supporter of both the first and second amendments, of course I would oppose a liberal employer who sought to forbid employees from buying guns. That's not what is at issue here, however. Here's the better analogy. Suppose that the President of the US and his administration required all employers to SUBSIDIZE THE PURCHASE of guns by their employees. Employers who, for reasons of conscience (say, Quaker schools), would say "I'm opposed to this rule on moral principle" should be allowed to not participate. But the ludicrousness of this analogy points out the absurdity of Obamacare - the government should not be forcing businesses to provide any specific fringe benefit.

Great article, Michelle - but you might want to fix a typo on how long Kermit Gosnell was in the infanticide business. The article says "40 decades." I know it meant to say either "4 decades," or "40 years." It was awful, but, thank goodness, it wasn't for 400 years.

Funny, when I listen to Jon Huntsman I'm taken back to my childhood. He reminds me of the cloying obnoxiousness of the character Eddie Haskell on "Leave It To Beaver."

A minor point, but, I think, still germane. There is NO WAY Alan Greenspan would have written that there were "surplus's as far as the eye could see." He may well have written that there were "surpluses as far as the eye could see." That is, of course, if he wrote grammatically correct English, On a matter of more substance: in 1996, at the beginning of Clinton's term, a gallon of gasoline averaged $1.21. In 2001, at the beginning of W's term, it was $1.46. In 2009, and the end of W's term and the beginning of the "current unpleasantness," it was $1.78. This year, it is over $3.00, and some analysts believe it could go to $5.00/gallon. That's progress under Obama, who wants nothing less than American energy independence.

Guy, I think it was Sarah Palin that started the unfortunate trend of using the Spanish swear word for testicles in political speech (it was what confirmed for me that she was not a serious potential Presidential candidate). Two things: First, you misspelled "cojones." The second letter is an "o," not an "a." Second, please reconsider the use of a Spanish-language vulgarity that doesn't get bleeped because it's in a foreign tongue. It's not pleasant for those of us who happen to speak and read Spanish. I would think that most Anglophones would find it offensive to read, say, a French or German blog post that had a hyperlink that said "Balls!" to describe the nerve of an American politician.

Bravo, Bruce! I remember the 2008 primaries, when the Republican establishment, specifically the then-Florida governor, Charlie Crist, worked very hard to stop Mitt, the CONSERVATIVE candidate, from getting the nomination. Sadly, they succeeded and we got John McCain. I have long thought that, had Crist not endorsed McCain in the Florida primary, Mitt (who was surging in the polls) would have won it, won the nomination, and would have been elected President, sparing the nation the nightmare of the last four years. Alas, we had to have Carter to get Reagan. I suspect that in a decade or so we'll look back and say that we had to have Obama to get Romney.

You are selling Romney short. He is a great deal better candidate than Dole, McCain, or either of the Bushes were. I think he has the potential to be Reaganesque.

Good article, silly headline. Many people object to the use of "X-mas" as an abbreviation because they assume "X" is like the algebraic variable - a letter that doesn't really stand for anything. The fact is that the letter "X" is the letter CHI in the Greek alphabet, which is (you guessed it) the first letter in the word "Christos" (???st?s) - or Christ. "X-mas" is a perfectly appropriate abbreviation of Christmas, with Christian roots.