Commentary, editorials and opinion, opinions

On a planet ruled, often by whim, by kings, czars, emperors, ayatollahs, popes, sultans, rajas, caliphs and warlords, the very notion that "all men are created equal" and had "certain inalienable rights" such as "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" was radical in the extreme.

John McCain is trailing Barack Obama by 30 percentage points in support from Hispanic voters, according to this week's polling from Gallup. Even among Hispanics that self-identify as conservatives, McCain and Obama are even.

The advanced Western world is getting old and the rising East grows gray around the temples. Meanwhile, the developing South is in the midst of processing huge "youth bulges" that should keep it restless for another couple of decades before slipping into middle age.

On the eve of the holiday weekend, the White House indulged in a little of its signature fear mongering.

Press secretary Dana Perino raised the possibility that, because of a Supreme Court ruling that went against the Bush administration, the courts could order the Guantanamo Bay detainees set free to roam the streets of our cities.

It was a great week for Colombia and its president, Alvaro Uribe, and the latest in a series of really bad months for FARC. It also wasn't such a good week for Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, since the events highlight his duplicitous meddling in Colombia.

Independence Day is usually the time Americans show off their good-natured patriotism. But this election year, the political fireworks have detonated around the question of whose service and patriotism is greater, John McCain's or Barack Obama's.

Barack Obama is catching hell from some for his endorsement of faith-based government services, and yes, there is reason to worry about his position. But don't suppose for a minute that all the critics know what they're talking about.

NEW YORK -- In olden days, Americans needed just 13 and a half months to erect the Empire State Building, four and a half years to build Hoover Dam, and six years, four months to install the Transcontinental Railroad.

The Fourth of July celebrates community, local as well as national. Parades featuring people in uniform -- scouts, firefighters and police as well as the military and others -- traditionally are a fixture. Military uniforms remind us of the role of war in our history -- and our present.

WASHINGTON -- Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, an advisor to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama, says being shot down in an airplane doesn't qualify one to be president, a reference to Sen. John McCain's experience in Vietnam. He is absolutely correct. But it also doesn't make him any less qualified.