Why are so many people so desperate to hold onto the idea that America is as racist as it has ever been?

Since last November's election there has been a lot of punditry about the fissures and schisms in the Republican party. The divisions are real and some of the commentary has been revealing.

The first volume of Charles Moore's authorized biography of Margaret Thatcher, covering her life up to Britain's victory in the Falklands, is out, just weeks after her death. It takes its place among the finest political biographies of all time.

You can get agreement from almost all points on the political spectrum that the worst aspect of our political system is the presidential nomination process. It is perhaps no coincidence that it is the one part of the system not treated in the Constitution.

On Obamacare, as on immigration enforcement and welfare requirements, Barack Obama is following the course that cost King James II his throne. He is dispensing with the law.

The Fourth of July is always an occasion to think about what the United States of America has been, is and will be. A good way to reflect on that is to pick up a copy of "America 3.0" by James Bennett and Michael Lotus and ponder its lessons.

What's the outlook for the 2014 Senate elections? The Republicans once again have a chance to overturn the Democrats' majority, as they did in 2010 and 2012.

In neither Britain nor America is any party confident of winning the next presidential or general election. In both countries young voters may be critical in determining who wins. 

This has been a big week for the Supreme Court. In four separate cases it applied stricter scrutiny to racial quotas and preferences in higher education, overturned part of the Voting Rights Act, ruled unconstitutional the Defense of Marriage Act and dismissed an appeal of a case overturning California voters' ban on same-sex marriage.

The mismatch of "affirmative action" students with the rest of the student body tends to hurt the blacks and Hispanics who are admitted. I think university admissions offices are some of the most intellectually dishonest and corrupt institutions in our country.