http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish RSS Feed for Inq Col Michael Smerconish en-us Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:04:24 GMT http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100314_Head_Strong__Free__and_hateful__speech_vs__the_right_to_gather.html Fred Phelps, founder and pastor of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., claims to be a man of God. But when I interviewed him days after he initiated a vulgar protest at a dead Marine's funeral, he reminded me more of Lucifer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100307_Head_Strong__Why_not_a_museum_at_the_Gamble_and_Huff_site_.html Sometimes loss gives rise to appreciation, and we've just witnessed two losses that serve as reminders of the special value of The Sound of Philadelphia. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100228_Head_Strong__Medical_profession_must_police_itself_better.html At the outset of President Obama's summit on health care Thursday, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.) told the president to "put an end to junk lawsuits against doctors." No one could protest that sentiment. But any effort at malpractice reform needs to ensure that the medical profession does a better job of policing itself. Three recent stories shine a floodlight on the need for improvement. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100221_Head_Strong__Sorry__but_for_me__the_party_is_over.html It took only the single tap of a computer key, and just like that I'd exited the Republican Party after 30 years of active membership. The context might sound impulsive, but I'd been thinking of becoming an independent for a long time. I just hadn't expected that a trip to renew my driver's license would mark the end. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100214_Head_Strong__1-trick_athletes_limit_themselves.html Kids today think varsity sweaters are just props from the TV show Happy Days. That's not a statement about sartorial change so much as an observation as to how the multiple varsity letter winner is fast becoming an extinct species. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100207_Head_Strong__Let_federal_officers_carry_guns_on_planes.html President Obama has the chance to give new meaning to the phrase "carry-on" as it applies to air travel. Here's hoping he pulls the trigger. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100131_Head_Strong__Bring_tech_up_to_speed.html I have a new job for Steve Jobs. Now that Apple's latest "magical" and "revolutionary" product is set to hit the market, he can focus on helping us keep two hands on the steering wheel while we talk on the phone. Better that he solve America's obsession with driving while holding a cell phone to our ears than have government step in at the local, state, or national level. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100124_Head_Strong__A_good_ruling_on_election_money.html I had never heard of "America's Most Popular Campaign Donor Search Engine" until a few years ago, when a critic told me he "knew" I was a GOP sycophant because he'd done research on me at Newsmeat.com. I quickly took a look. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100117_Head_Strong__How_a_book_on_the__08_election_breaks_news.html Game Change is so hot that many Philadelphia bookstores were sold out last week. Sales for the recap of the 2008 campaign written by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann were no doubt fueled by Harry Reid's analysis of Barack Obama's skin tone and dialect. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/columnists/michael_smerconish/20100110_Head_Strong__A_conservative_s_case_for_same-sex_marriage.html Tomorrow, conservative legal giant Ted Olson will begin a new trial, this one involving a federal challenge to Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriage. The case, Perry v. Schwarzenegger, is the latest and arguably most important legal review of what has become a nationwide debate about affording rights to same-sex couples.