Newtown, Connecticut December 14, 2012. Not a parent in America got through that day with dry eyes. Our poets and artists will find ways to express the grief and outrage, but most of us will grasp at some sort of political solution. This is natural. Tragedies are often political opportunities. And they tend to follow a certain pattern. It is already unfolding before our eyes. President Obama

“It’s the economy stupid.” –James Carville The words of former U.S. President Clinton’s campaign strategist, now famous, were originally meant as a quick synopsis to Clinton campaign organizers of how Clinton’s campaign should be approached. Why? That’s political policy that really affects people—and a smart politician knows it. Campaigns based on regulating morality in society have come and gone

I hear it all the time in one form or another: “Society made me do it!” My father, a judge, regularly regales me with tales from the courtroom. Some of this stuff would make your ears burn—and everybody’s got an excuse: “I drove drunk because I got laid off and the economy is tough.” “I kidnapped that little girl because my mother wasn’t nice to me.” “I ran across the football field naked because

You’ve heard of The Beatles, right? Maybe you don’t like them (not a perspective I am capable of understanding) but I’m sure you know of them. I am often just blown away how these regular, working-class boys got together and changed the course of music forever—just by getting down to business and harnessing their creativity. Most of their songs came from John and Paul, who seemed born to work