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WASHINGTON -- I don't need a hearing to tell me what happened on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol, which was stormed by an armed mob. But the nation needs a reckoning on that deadly day.

It was a moment history will never forget, a presidential attack on an equal branch of government, Congress. This I can tell you: It was not a drill, nor a ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Anti-vaccination activists, let me be blunt.

It's your funeral, but it's our health care workers, hospitals and medical systems. Please stay home when COVID-19 comes to call.

The delta variant is causing cases to spike in all 50 states. Florida is a hot spot. Of course, unvaccinated Americans are those who are sick and dying from...Read more

So you heard about Zaila Avant-garde winning the National Spelling Bee -- the first Black girl to do so at the Scripps event. The truly avant-garde girl, 14, caused a sensation.

But have you heard of Marie Bolden winning the very first National Spelling Bee in 1908? The dignified Black girl from Cleveland caused a stir in America. The news ...Read more

MADISON, Wis. -- The fireworks from here to Washington sang of a country renewing its place in the world -- and its sense of self. It was the most meaningful Fourth of July in memory, six months after the armed mob stormed the Capitol.

Democracy is making a remarkable recovery.

Seeing people in person again -- like family -- after 18 months ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- The Founding Fathers, a great group of guys, gathered in Philadelphia in July of 1776 and again in 1787. What a wonder, 55 bright lights met in one room to start a revolution that isn't over yet.

We know the Declaration of Independence signers and Constitution framers were also flawed human beings. Many were rich slave owners, ...Read more

Miraculously, the system worked for declaring Juneteenth a national holiday -- all the way from the Capitol signing to the White House ceremony in a day.

Never have I seen such joy burst into song at a press conference. The Congressional Black Caucus joined House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. It felt as if centuries of slavery floated away ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- She hasn't had a good moment yet. Brittle is the word, without a bit of President Joe Biden's bonhomie.

I speak of Vice President Kamala Harris, who made history as the first Black person -- and the first woman -- ever to get the job. Her presidential campaign failed before the first contest in Iowa. Nearly five months in as Veep,...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Much depends upon Sen. Joe Manchin III, the man stuck in the middle of a deeply divided 50-50 Senate. The West Virginia Democrat opposes the Voting Rights Act; he's the only one in his caucus to break ranks.

Manchin faces a major arc of color bending toward justice. Tell him, please, this is one of those rare times history rhymes....Read more

WASHINGTON -- I loved the Senate once -- I thought for good -- until midnight Friday.

Hours later, Senate Republicans failed America by blocking a bipartisan commission to get at the truth of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol.

The House already gave its blessing to a blueprint like the 9/11 Commission, with 35 Republican votes.

The blame was...Read more

WASHINGTON -- First, the plague shadowed the land. Then came the siege. Now locusts are swarming everywhere from the Capitol to the National Cathedral.

Let us pray. Lord have mercy on us, living in biblical times.

What's next, Exodus?

The coronavirus claimed more than half a million lives. It made us hold on to one another tighter, at a ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Bob Dylan made me break into silent tears once, in concert on Nov. 11, 2001. Two months from the Sept. 11 attacks, people were still shattered.

The song was "Tangled up in Blue." Pitch-perfect for the moment in time, from the album "Blood on the Tracks." Try it sometime and you shall be released.

The greatest American bard (Sorry...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Daggers are out for Rep. Liz Cheney on Wednesday, when House Republicans will rid her of a leadership post.

Sorry, Daddy's girl. No, really. We have a history.

Evolution at work: A Cheney told the truth in public.

The Wyoming congresswoman, 54, took a lonely stand by defying former President Donald Trump's "big lie," as she put ...Read more

WASHINGTON -- Joe Biden is a different man. Transformed at 78, he speaks soberly to the times that try our souls. The glibness is gone.

As the pandemic eases and the economy warms up, the president hits the right notes -- concern and competence in a crisis presidency.

"Uncle Joe" has none of former President Barack Obama's show-stopping ...Read more