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Margaret Thatcher inspired self-reliance

Opinion column

There is a story about Margaret Thatcher, which is probably apocryphal, but speaks volumes about the strength of Britain's first female prime minister, who died Monday at age 87.

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Lean on the world to save women, girls

Opinion column

The striking juxtaposition of the preternaturally perfect Angelina Jolie, waifish and wispy in a ghostly gown, and the scrappy Pakistani schoolgirl Malala, her face cruelly misshapen by the effects of a Taliban bullet to the head, captures the confluence of feminine power assembled here to "lean on" the world to save women and girls.

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U.S. political system gives extremists too much power

Opinion column

The National Rifle Association is facing attacks from Gun Owners of America for being too soft on gun control. This is like a double cheeseburger coming under severe criticism for lacking enough cholesterol.

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Obama wants issue, not a solution

Opinion column

Is a bipartisan immigration deal at hand? It's close. Last week, the AFL-CIO and the Chamber of Commerce worked out a guest-worker compromise that allows in foreign workers on a sliding scale of 20,000 to 200,000, depending on the strength of the economy.

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Artwork a tribute to reconciliation

Opinion column

It isn’t often that one gets to hear both the strains of “Dixie” and an African drum concert in the same public square. Nor, usually, are statue unveilings the riveting stuff of storytelling.

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Will the GOP block background checks?

Opinion column

Is Congress on the verge of turning away from the lessons of the slaughter in Newtown even as Connecticut enacts sweeping laws to curb gun violence? Is the gun lobby hell-bent on aligning our country with such great friends of liberty as Iran, North Korea and Syria by opposing efforts to condition international gun sales on the human rights records of buyers?

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Students are the victims of Atlanta's cheating scandal

Opinion column

Last week, 35 former Atlanta educators were forced to take a perp walk, reporting to law enforcement authorities for arrest in connection with the nation's biggest (so far) academic scandal. It was a disturbing spectacle. Once among the pillars of metro Atlanta's middle class, they've been reduced to pleading that they don't belong in jail.

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Younger Americans accept full humanity of gays

Opinion column

Familiarity breeds ... acceptance. That's why the battle for full equality for gays and lesbians is already won, no matter what the U.S. Supreme Court decides.

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Churches should weigh in on same-sex marriage

Opinion column

You can't win the fight if you don't put on the gloves. A punch-drunk, old heavyweight boxer knows that's a truism, but not the churches of America.

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U.S. immigration policy shortchanges the nation

Opinion column

As the debate over immigration reform reaches a climax, a troubling idea seems to be gaining traction. It is that annual limits on new visas should be severely restricted, and that America must choose between two groups of newcomers: high-tech workers with advanced degrees or family members of existing residents.

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Folly of Iraq invasion needs more public scrutiny

Opinion column

Ten years ago, on March 20, 2003, the administration of George W. Bush launched its disastrous invasion of Iraq. It’s a war most Americans — including many Republicans who enthusiastically supported it — are working assiduously to forget.

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This story could save a woman's life

For a split second, Helen Yee thought the guy who opened the passenger door of her car and slid in next to her was a neighbor. Then she saw his gun.

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Detroit's slippery slope is everlasting

Opinion column

Since the Motown sound went silent — except on oldies stations — and General Motors and Chrysler (but not Ford) required life support from Washington, there has been little to recommend Detroit, Mich., to visitors, much less its residents.

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Dolley Madison was the model for savvy

Opinion column

When Dolley Payne Madison became first lady in 1809, she instituted Wednesday evening gatherings at the White House where political rivals could meet and talk. They were called “squeezes” because so many people showed up and crowded the room. As Cokie wrote in her book “Ladies of Liberty”: “All were welcome as long as they were appropriately dressed. And all went — skipping a Wednesday night might mean missing a vital piece of political information or being left out of a crucial deal.” We thought of Dolley when President Obama started implementing his own version of the “squeeze” — dinner with 12

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Who decides what’s fair in who we marry?

Opinion column

Given his track record on marital fidelity, former President Bill Clinton is not the person I would consult about “committed, loving relationships.” Clinton used those words in a Washington Post op-ed last week, urging the Supreme Court to overturn the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman, which he signed into law.

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