Much has been made of this fascinating Labor Department report, which USA Today put on its front page. It shows that women now hold almost half of all jobs in the US (49.83 percent, to be precise), up from 31.8 percent in 1964. One of the causes: men have been clobbered by the recent economic downturn, having lost three-quarters of the 6.4 million jobs wiped out since December ... MORE

Part of President Obama’s great promise was always in his (still essentially unproven) ability to translate his charisma into major policy achievements. But, at this point, his rhetoric isn’t only formulaic -- it’s becoming obviously so. Consider the president’s speech this morning at a U.N. climate change summit. He began, of course, with the Alarming Warning: Unless the ... MORE

"Stick out your tongue." I did so, and the dentist wrapped some gauze around it and said, "I need to explain myself about the public option." Stunned, I raised myself up in the chair and looked. It was Barack Obama. "I'm both for it and against it," the president said. I tried to bolt but he had me by the tongue. I squirmed and cursed like Rahm Emanuel, and finally he had to let ... MORE

It is sometimes alleged, with varying degrees of accuracy, that conservatives refuse to police the excesses of their own. Those persuaded by this argument should read Pete Wehner on Glenn Beck. It is a model of reasoned response to an emotional populism that is something less than conservative. Wehner writes: I don’t pretend to be an expert on [FOX News’s Glenn] Beck. In the ... MORE

People forget that neoconservatives did not name themselves; initially they rebelled against a label coined by Michael Harrington, the great democratic socialist. Harrington’s intent was to make clear that a group that in its early days included many who still called themselves liberal was in fact a movement of newly conservative ex-liberals. The label eventually stuck because ... MORE

The passing of Irving Kristol is a very sad occasion. He was a truly great man, a great intellectual, and a great, patriotic servant to his country. He was also a unique inspiration, to me personally, and to untold thousands of other young people for whom he provided a model of the intellectual life well-lived. He was a deep and fierce thinker, who nevertheless delivered his ... MORE

By Lee Hockstader The candidates running for governor of Virginia make a nice study in contrasts, on view for all to see at yesterday’s debate before the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, the state’s premier business group. There was Creigh Deeds, the folksy, likeable, from-the-heart Democrat wrestling with his artless delivery, the distractions in Washington of health care ... MORE

Bacchus, of course, was the Roman god of partying. Then it’s appropriate, perhaps, that the eponymous Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who released his health-care plan yesterday, didn’t include a tax on sugary drinks, the consumption of which contributes to most of my weekends -- but also to obesity, diabetes, early death and all sorts of other nasty and expensive things. But as he ... MORE

An overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward Israel is based on the fact that it is a Jewish state. I think it's bubbled up to the surface, because of a belief among many non-Jews, not just in the United States but around the world, that Jews are despicable and a Jewish state is inherently illegitimate. I think it's based on anti-Semitism. There is an ... MORE

By Jo-Ann Armao I admit to being conflicted about the House’s decision today to reprimand South Carolina Republican Joe Wilson for his ill-mannered outburst last week. (By now everyone knows how Wilson shouted “you lie!” as President Obama tried to debunk what he saw as lies being spread about his health reform proposal.) My initial impulse was to think the Democrats should ... MORE

I cannot thank Post Metro columnist Petula Dvorak enough for her piece today, "Too Often, We're Mute On Race." She underscores what I said during the Crowley-Gates-Obama drama of July: We have to talk about race. And then she makes a courageous confession about how she handles it with her five-year-old son. "I'm guilty of silence on the subject," Dvorak wrote, "despite living in a ... MORE

Can you call the British prime minister a liar when he is speaking in the House of Commons? As a former holder of a House of Commons press pass, I have been asked by my colleagues to rule on this important issue, brought to our attention by Joe Wilson’s outburst during the President’s health-care speech to Congress. The answer is no: While it is true that you are certainly ... MORE

In 1967, the play “MacBird!” opened in New York. It was (very) loosely based on Macbeth and, like it, told the story of an assassination and a palace coup, only in this case Lady Macbeth and her husband were not mythical Scots, but the first family of the United States. “MacBird!” accused Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson of being responsible for the assassination of John F. ... MORE

In 1967, the play “MacBird!” opened in New York. It was (very) loosely based on Macbeth and, like it, told the story of an assassination and a palace coup, only in this case Lady Macbeth and her husband were not mythical Scots, but the first family of the United States. “MacBird!” accused Lyndon and Lady Bird Johnson of being responsible for the assassination of John F. ... MORE

If history is a guide, presidents who devote a joint session of Congress to a single domestic issue gain a bump. The drama of taking the center stage of American politics increases both attention and support. President Carter’s 1977 energy speech resulted in a nine-point rise in the percentage of Americans who thought the nation had a serious energy problem. After President ... MORE

It was the speech he needed to give. Three months ago, absolutely, but better late -- a lot better late -- than never. In speaking to Congress and the American people Wednesday night, President Obama made the case he needed to make -- to independents, to seniors, to the nation’s conscience. He made the case in part by stating what he wanted in the bill, at what cost, and how it ... MORE

I knew something was up in the opening moments of President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress. When he said, "I am not the first president to take up this cause, but I am determined to be the last," there was a snap in his voice that told me that this wasn't going to be the snoozerific wonkfest of a health care press conference like the one he held at the White House ... MORE

One of President Obama’s goals in his speech Wednesday night – unacknowledged, perhaps, but central – must have been to make the intransigient Republican opposition to health-care reform look rude, petty, disingenuous, counterproductive and fundamentally dishonest. My verdict: Mission accomplished, thanks to lots of Republican help. Obama pointed out how Republicans such as ... MORE

So President Obama invited himself into our living rooms tonight...why? Not to address questions of war and peace -- even though we are fighting two wars overseas, and even though an avowed enemy and terror sponsor is rushing towards nuclear weapons. Not to address the economy -- even though unemployment continues to rise, the deficit is at an all-time high, and we face a truly ... MORE

By Eva Rodriguez Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. may be the darling of the right, but newly minted Democratic appointee Justice Sonia Sotomayor displayed more conservative bona fides during the highly unusual oral arguments Wednesday over the constitutionality of certain campaign finance laws. The chief justice and Justices Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy and Samuel A. Alito ... MORE

By Eva Rodriguez For court geeks like me, it doesn't get much better than this: a weighty case of national importance, a couple of historic firsts and a star-studded cast of lawyers. All of these elements come together on Wednesday, when the Supreme Court takes up the case of "Hillary: The Movie" -- formally known as Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission. This is a tough ... MORE

By Jo-Ann Armao A lot of pundits are seizing on the uproar over today’s presidential speech to the nation’s school children as further evidence of a bumbling White House. How could they let something so innocuous become so controversial? But, after watching President Obama's speech, I'm convinced that the administration actually may have ended up outfoxing its critics. The ... MORE

We have just gone through one of the most shameful episodes of the young Obama presidency -- shameful because of the behavior of the right wing, shameful because the media played into an extremist agenda, shameful because we proved that our political system has become so dysfunctional that a president gets punished for doing the right thing. Upon Barack Obama’s election, even my ... MORE

It’s hard to imagine a more disastrous blow to vital American security interests than the double surrender George Will is now proposing. To withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan simultaneously would be to abandon American interests and allies in the Persian Gulf and greater Middle East. The consequences of such a retreat would be to shift the balance of influence in the region ... MORE

In the year and counting since she burst onto the political scene, I haven’t been Sarah Palin’s biggest fan. Charitable would not be the word that comes to mind in describing my atitude toward the former Alaska governor. Finally, though, I find myself in Palin’s corner -- pushed there by Levi Johnston, her former future son-in-law, and the father of her grandson. Johnston ... MORE

By Jeanne McManus It's wonderful that Diane Sawyer is now joining Katie Couric as a network news anchor. But I'm such a terrible cynic: I think that anytime women outnumber men in a profession it's a sign that men have abandoned it because there's not enough money or prestige in it anymore. That's why there are now more committed and dedicated women than men in med school but ... MORE

Of all the mysteries surrounding the horrific case of Jaycee Lee Dugard, the California woman kidnaped as an 11 year-old in 1991 and held as a sexual slave for the last 18 years, none is more baffling -- or, to many, infuriating -- than this: How did her alleged tormentor, Phillip Garrido, get out of prison in 1988, after only about 11 years of a 50-year federal sentence for a ... MORE

It is extraordinary — just extraordinary — that George Will should write a column urging American and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan without mentioning the events of Sept. 11, 2001. It is as though Walter Lippmann urged his readers, in confronting the Japanese threat of the early 1940s, to forget Pearl Harbor. It should be more difficult to forget 9/11 than it apparently is ... MORE

George Will is dismayed by American casualties in Afghanistan, unhappy about the length of our effort there, dismissive of the contributions of our NATO allies, contemptuous of the Afghan central government, and struck by the country’s backwardness. I share many of these sentiments. But they are sentiments. It would be better to base a major change in our national security ... MORE

With his tendency to open mouth and insert foot, Vice President Biden is the Dennis the Menace of the Obama administration. But the skill and passion that made him effective in the Senate and now a behind-the-scenes force in the West Wing was on full display this morning when he eulogized his friend, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.). Biden was supposed to be heralding the ... MORE

By Alexandra Petri What, no luau? Today was Hawaii's 50th anniversary as a U.S. state, and it celebrated the occasion with the political jurisdiction’s equivalent of a quiet evening at home. Hawaii is the friend who, when asked what it would like for its fiftieth birthday, shrugs and mutters, "Oh, nothing really. Maybe a commemorative postage stamp." The state has given us ... MORE

In my column today on end-of-life counseling I omitted, for reasons of concision, one consideration. While living wills are generally useless, another "advance directive" -- the durable power of attorney -- can be quite useful. It designates the person who will make decisions for you if you are no longer able to make decisions for yourself. That's particularly helpful by ... MORE

The Post just reported that "Cash for Clunkers," the popular program that subsidizes the trade-in purchase of fuel-efficient vehicles, has once again run out of money, even after the $2 billion boost Congress gave it earlier this month. Cue another round of congressional self-congratulation. Democrats love the program because they can claim (as many probably think) that it’s ... MORE

From the National Rifle Association’s Web site: “At the NRA, we're dedicated to the lawful, effective, responsible and above all safe use of firearms.” If the NRA were to take that commitment seriously, why wouldn’t the organization loudly discourage gun owners from, say, bringing loaded weapons to a presidential town hall, as several did recently? Or from threatening the ... MORE

By Autumn Brewington Robert Novak was a regular at the Army Navy Club. Sometimes he ate lunch there five times a week. The first time I met him there for lunch, in 2007, we had what seemed like a typical meal. We talked about writing, column ideas and politics. After a while, I noticed that the waitress, Mary, an older black woman, kept addressing “Mr. Kojak.” At first I ... MORE

A couple of weeks ago I suggested that the political problems facing President Obama's health reform would only get worse when his Office of Management and Budget released its required mid-year review of the budget deficit, coming later this week. Reason: I expected the recession to drive the deficit beyond the $1.8 trillion the administration expected back in March. Now, ... MORE

As my kids would say -- and they are my kids -- du-uh! Did anyone think that Rielle Hunter's baby -- or "it," as Elizabeth Edwards refers to the child -- was not fathered by John Edwards? The National Enquirer reports that DNA evidence confirms what was rather obvious all along: Edwards is the father. "Being 99 percent honest is no longer enough," Edwards pronounced after the ... MORE

By Alexandra Petri I'm right-handed, and I am proud. Today, August 13th, marks yet another victory in one of the most sensationally successful PR campaigns of all time: the campaign for left-handers. Many minorities still struggle against negative stereotypes. There are "dumb blondes" and those minefield clusters of adjectives such as "hard-drinking Irishman" that The Post's ... MORE

Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor's ascension is that only-in-America story that should fortify everyone's believe in this nation's willingness to grant the American Dream (however defined) to anyone willing to work hard for it. But as we celebrate the achievements of "a Puerto Rican girl from the Bronx," we should remember that Sotomayor's is not a singular success. There are ... MORE

I know I'm a tad late to the party on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Congo outburst, so I'll keep this short and to the point: You go, Hillary! Listening to a translation of a question from a student, the usually controlled Clinton reacted with uncharacteristic public fury when she was asked what her husband, former President Bill Clinton, thought about a trade deal between ... MORE