Are they really bumblers? The opinion columns quiver with reproofs for maladroit handling of foreign policy by President Obama and his Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Those who cherished foolish illusions that Obamas election presaged a substantive shift to the left in foreign policy fret about worrisome signs that this is not the case.

By now, you most likely know that Texas has become ground zero for the latest battles in the textbook wars. While conservatives and progressives take their stands on the issue, I wonder:

As scores of impassioned first-time candidates from the ranks of the GOP fan out across North Carolina with a missionary zeal to take the country back and the Democrats mobilize organization and big money, I wonder: Is there any common ground left between the two major political parties to seek common good and common goals?.

I am no pinnacle of humility, and I've learned my fair share of hard lessons from the camps of conceit. But I'm not sure the former Chicago politician occupying the White House ever has been by Chuck schooled with a primer on Norris the perils of pride. columnist I's one thing (though still distasteful) to be boastful in a sports or fighting ring; it's quite another in the Oval Office.

"I saw it written once that the definition of insanity is repeating the same process over and over and expecting the outcome to suddenly be different. I am finally ready to stop this insanity. Well, Mr. Big Brother IRS man, let's try something different; take my pound of flesh and sleep well."

The headline read: "Survey: More Americans get news from internet than newspapers or radio." The fact that I read this story on CNN.com demonstrates its point exactly. The article goes on to state, "three-fourths say they hear of news via e-mail or updates on social media sites."

Not surprisingly, a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. survey released last Friday revealed that 56 percent of Americans think the federal government has become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to their rights and freedoms.

Nothing more easily elicits roars of assent across a good slice of the political spectrum than the hoarse alarums that wave after wave of brown-skinned illegals continually flood across the border, plunging neighborhoods and whole cities into an inferno of crime, overwhelming cops and prosecutors, clogging the justice system, cramming the prisons.

I have been a runner for most of my life. As a child, it was due to playing other sports. I enthusiastically played soccer and baseball. Photos of an awkward looking kid playing tee-ball, and silly soccer team photos with players on one knee still occupy space in my mothers photo albums.

The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of State Dear Madam Secretary: I am writing in support of the International Rescue Committee report, Iraqi Refugees in the United States in Dire Straits. The government has a responsibility to serve refugees brought to our country for resettlement in a humane and fair way.