Tuesday night, House Democrats passed what Reuters called a “bill allowing offshore drilling.”  Don’t be fooled by the headlines. This bill is a last-ditch attempt to stop offshore drilling, while pretending to support drilling to insulate members of the Democratic caucus from the outrage of the American people.

Two weeks ago, I had just finished watching the last episodes of the final season of “Northern Exposure.” It was a worthy task that took more than a year of regular Netflix rentals to see all six seasons, and the closing credits of the final episode brought an end to “living” in a small town in Alaska.

Is it racist to question Sen. Barack Obama’s thin résumé?
Of course not.

This election is dead even, but the track ahead hides many potholes and pitfalls. One misstep or outside event — a factor that’s not even visible or predictable now — could determine the winner two months from now.

I can remember when flying was fun. I have always been enthusiastic about airplanes, and taking a trip on one was a big adventure.

Sex education in an Alaskan high school

Normally I don’t use my column for any partisan viewpoints so I won’t start now. I do apologize in advance if somehow my comments are misinterpreted as partisan because they are not meant to be.

During the 1980 presidential campaign, Ronald Reagan, in a debate with President Jimmy Carter, famously suggested that voters answer a simple, but potent, question. 
“Are you better off than you were four years ago?”

It’s time some courageous person exposes the global epidemic of mass dog weddings.

Politics is not about right versus left. It is not about Republicans versus Democrats. It is not about liberal versus conservative.

“The Seven year itch” was the name of a play, produced in 1952, discussing the idea that men become unfaithful after seven years of marriage.

I can see it now. The end of civilization as we know it. (Not that that’s necessary a bad thing.)

As a former naval aviator, John McCain knows that of the four forces that act upon aircraft in flight, drag is the most troublesome. If drag is excessive, neither better wings nor an improved power plant will save the airplane. It will inevitably crash.

I’ve been listening to a three CD set of American music entitled Song of America. Produced in part by former Attorney General Janet Reno, it includes songs ranging from “Yankee Doodle” to Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” which detail the historical and cultural changes throughout this country’s 232-year history.

Remember the Democratic National Convention? The Clintons and the Obamas, Invesco Field, the fireworks?

Ok I got it! The presidential campaign is coming down to change or at least that’s what both candidates are telling us. Change we can believe in vs. Change from the maverick.

Today, I’m on a soapbox. And any of you with children in the public schools can probably anticipate what my soapbox is: schools use too much paper.

Here’s how I figured it would happen: I’m sitting in a greasy spoon off some steaming Georgia blacktop, flirting with a red-headed waitress and waiting on a diablo sandwich and a Dr. Pepper, when in walks none other than Jerry Reed.

In the contest between John McCain and Barack Obama, nobody is confused about which candidate has experience and qualifications for the job of president. Two recent developments have brought the issue of preparedness to the forefront. And the truth is that, of the four major party candidates, Obama is the least experienced.

The surprise choice of Gov. Sarah Palin to be John McCain’s running mate seems to be the gift that may keep on giving.

Wow! What a country we live in. One way or another, history is going to be made in America this election season. We are either going to elect the first African American President, the oldest first–term American President or the first woman vice president on November 4. 

Faithful readers of this column will know that once, long ago in a galaxy far away, I was a high school English teacher. Since I retired five years ago, I’ve found that I don’t miss the daily commute, the
meetings, the paperwork, the constant changes in curriculum.

It is now abundantly clear that Sen. Barack Obama will become this nation’s 44th president when he takes the oath of office on Jan. 20.

The debate over drilling on federal lands has come home: from the Alaskan National Wildlife Refuge to the coast of Virginia. Record-high oil prices — fueled in part by a weak dollar and speculation — led leaders in both parties to backpedal on longstanding commitments not to place oil rigs on the Atlantic coast. Even as economists of all stripes acknowledged that offshore drilling will do nothing to reduce prices at the pump, politicians still wavered. Why?

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Every four years, Americans traditionally tune into the presidential campaigns around Labor Day.

Labor Day generally signals the end of summer. 

America, our God-given right to eat hot dogs without worry is under siege.

With my Baltimore Orioles suffering a blowout loss on Tuesday night and with none of the cable networks showing Andy Griffith reruns, I was forced to watch coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

Tonight, if all goes according to plan, a stadium full of Obama supporters (and curious onlookers such as the media) will join the delegates of this week’s National Democratic Convention in Denver to hear from the party’s primary-anointed candidate.

In spite of the title, this is not some sappy, uh, romantic tale about a man and a woman who had a grand love for each other and then one of them moves away or disappears for decades and then they find each other again but it’s too late because one of them dies but it’s still oh so romantic.