George Lakoff, 03/12/12

Author, The Political Mind, Moral Politics, Don't Think of an Elephant!

The Republican presidential campaign is not just about the presidential race. It is about using conservative language to strengthen conservative values in the brains of voters -- in campaigns at all levels from Congress to school boards.

Margie Omero, 03/12/12

Democratic pollster, president of Momentum Analysis

Recent PPP polling might tempt some to unearth hackneyed caricatures about Southerners and social issues. But in fact, there are fewer differences between Southern Republicans and voters overall than you might think.

Ashley Judd, 03/12/12

Actress

The letter, written by a young woman named Limakatso Mokobocko, filled me with hope. It was a testament to why we can create an AIDS-free generation: the power and commitment of youth.

Cara Santa Maria, 03/09/12

Science correspondent, Huffington Post; editor, Talk Nerdy to Me

Do you want to learn how to play an instrument but think that you "can't teach an old dog new tricks?" Then you'd be interested in what Gary Marcus has to say.

Dean Baker, 03/12/12

Co-Director of CEPR; Author, 'The End of Loser Liberalism: Making Markets Progressive'

The rich and powerful have lined up firmly on the side of school reform, which is defined as a system where teachers lack job security and standardized testing becomes all-important.

Marty Kaplan, 03/12/12

Director, Norman Lear Center and Professor at the USC Annenberg School

Instead of ragging the "go-nowhere generation" for hanging out at home, we should be congratulating them for taking a pass on the Horatio Alger platitudes. It's not called "dumb luck" for nothing.

Wendell Potter, 03/12/12

Analyst at MSNBC and the Center for Public Integrity

It is people who have decided not to buy coverage -- but who nevertheless get sick or injured and seek medical care when they do, even if they don't have the money to pay for it -- that make health insurance so expensive for the rest of us.

William Astore, 03/12/12

Writer, Professor, Retired Lt. Colonel, Air Force

If a nuclear-armed Iran is indeed the greatest threat we as a nation face, that is indeed good news. Even better: Our latest intelligence estimate suggests that Iran still doesn't have a nuclear weapon, nor is it clear whether its leaders have decided to build one.

Derek Hough, 03/12/12

Dancer and choreographer

It's going to be tough. Your muscles will ache, you will get plenty of bumps and bruises, and you may even cry (this actually sounds really awful). But I can't tell you how excited I am to see your face when the music stops and we have completed our first official dance together.

Barbara Hannah Grufferman, 03/11/12

Writer; Speaker; Author, 'The Best of Everything After 50'

Something is definitely changing in America, and my heart tells me there is no going back. We are angry and ready for action. But are we angry enough?

David Kaufman, 03/12/12

Writer and editor in New York

Call me naïve, but I suspect that comprehensive marriage equality will be a legacy of an Obama presidency, though it cannot be a legacy of Obama himself. In the meantime, for this to happen, I don't need President Obama to "evolve"; I need him to get reelected!

Geoffrey Dunn, 03/11/12

Author, 'The Lies of Sarah Palin'

Few made-for-television movies have arrived with the amount of fanfare, anticipation and attendant hyperbole as has HBO's political docudrama Game Change. Almost as soon as the HBO production was announced, critics began taking potshots at it.

Rick Schwartz, 03/12/12

Movie producer; Biblical scholar wannabe

Gugino moves seamlessly from family films to horror to studio blockbusters to tiny independent movies to theatre. That would be like Lin playing all week for the Knicks, suiting up for the Liberty on weekends and hitting the local Y late night just to keep his game sharp.

Scott Mendelson, 03/12/12

Film critic at Mendelson's Memos, Valley Scene Magazine

Years from now, marketing schools will teach John Carter as an example of where the Disney team did everything wrong, at least in America.

Jay Michaelson, 03/12/12

Author, 'God vs. Gay? The Religious Case for Equality'

No matter the scientific evidence, no matter the countless lives of happy, healthy LGBT people, there's that story, that binary, and that claim. Well, I'd like to take that story back -- to reclaim it for all of us, not just those of us who find love in heterosexual, monogamous life.

Menachem Rosensaft, 03/12/12

Professor of law and son of Holocaust survivors

So who, precisely, is Peter Brimelow, and why should the rest of us be concerned when a white nationalist racist like him appears at the same event as Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum and Sarah Palin?

The Fat Diaries, 03/12/12

Software Product Manager

I remember eating -- let's not be polite here -- I was STUFFING a second piece of cake in my mouth, drunk out of my skull. "Jesus, that's good!" I exclaimed to the Bar Mitzvah guests. I was literally sliding the whole piece in like it was on a conveyer belt.

Ted Kaufman, 03/12/12

Fmr. U.S. Senator from Delaware

I've heard some surprising things from candidates during this primary season, but Mitt Romney's answer last Friday to a question about government regulation was in a league of its own.

Katherine Krauss, 03/12/12

18-year-old senior at Greenhills School in Michigan

Although new methods of perpetrating violence have been developed, relative peace in the world's most powerful nations is evidence that we as a globe are moving towards an era of collaboration.

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, 03/11/12

Economic inequality will lead to greater political inequality, and those who are further empowered politically will use this to gain a greater economic advantage by stacking the cards in their favor -- a quintessential vicious circle.

Amy Tara Koch, 03/11/12

Style expert, author, journalist, and all-around fashion aficionado

I am often mortified (post acquisition) at what I will/would/will endure to hunt and gather the objects of my affection. Case in point? The activities surrounding the March 8 sale of uber expensive Marni for H&M.;

Angie Ahmadi, 03/12/12

Associate, National Iranian American Council

Last Friday, Iran held its first elections since the controversial 2009 presidential contest, which led to the near-elimination of pro-reform political forces in the Islamic Republic. For this reason, the parliamentary vote should be viewed as an unrepresentative sham -- nothing more than a selection process amongst the ruling conservative elite.

Leo W. Gerard, 03/12/12

International President, United Steelworkers

Every day, 12 workers die on the job in America -- often because a corporation has defied regulations or ignored standard safety procedures. Many more die prematurely from work exposure to toxic materials.

Glenn W. Smith and James Moore, 03/12/12

Men are involved in 100 percent of all pregnancies. But our voices are mostly missing from the debate. It's time we spoke out, boyos. The pill is our contraception, too.