Next week is the State of the Union address, and I thought I’d offer a little last minute, unsolicited advice to the president and the White House speechwriters. Some may think it presumptuous, but as one of “we, the people,” I think it’s allowable. It’s not like they have to take the advice, after all . . . but it sure would be nice to see and hear something like this.

Alabama’s new Republican governor, Robert Bentley, offers up a message of tolerance and inclusion for Martin Luther King Day.

The “I have a Dream” speech and its meaning today.

Saturday marks the fortieth anniversary of the iconic “I Have a Dream” speech by the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Junior. Sadly, although Dr. King’s dream envisioned a time when we as a nation would “transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood”, a new generation is sowing discord at the expense of brotherhood.

Harold Ford clearly has read George Orwell’s 1984, but I’m not sure he understood that “Newspeak” is not something to which a reality-based politician should aspire. But when Harold Ford uses the day set aside to commemorate a man dedicated to non-violence to speak glowingly of taking electrical cords to our national backside, there’s something very, very wrong going on.

Remembering Martin Luther King Jr. today.

President John F. Kennedy called Inauguration Day “a celebration of freedom – symbolizing an end, as well as a beginning – signifying renewal, as well as change.” This year, that is dramatically true. President-elect Barack Obama will place his hand on the same Bible President Abraham Lincoln used to take the oath of office. When he does so, at noon on Tuesday, Americans of every party will celebrate both renewal and a long-needed change.