Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Michael Smerconish is a nationally syndicated radio host, best-selling author and weekly contributing columnist every Friday to The Philadelphia Inquirer A2 Insights page. Michael’s radio show is broadcasted weekday afternoons in Philadelphia on WPHT-AM (1210). A Philadelphia lawyer turned political commentator, Smerconish is a guest host and contributor to several national television shows including Hardball with Chris Matthews. Smerconish occasionally writes an opinion column in The Inquirer's Sunday Currents section. 

In January 2011, Smerconish launched a book club event series in the Philadelphia region that will feature several best-selling authors, including John Bogle, Ted Gup, James Kaplan and Jane Leavy.

The IRS office in Cincinnati. A top agency official said employees there "acted out of a desire for efficiency and not out of any political and partisan viewpoint."
At the IRS, wrong, but maybe explainable
By Michael Smerconish
05/19/2013
First the easy part: No one from the Internal Revenue Service should ever have singled out any applicant for disparate treatment based upon party affiliation or ideology. And never should IRS officials have scrutinized only one end of the political spectrum, which in the case of the current scandal involves targeting groups that use the words tea party, patriots, and 9/12 project in their names.
The IRS office in Cincinnati. A top agency official said employees there "acted out of a desire for efficiency and not out of any political and partisan viewpoint."
At the IRS, wrong, but maybe explainable
By Michael Smerconish
05/19/2013
First the easy part: No one from the Internal Revenue Service should ever have singled out any applicant for disparate treatment based upon party affiliation or ideology. And never should IRS officials have scrutinized only one end of the political spectrum, which in the case of the current scandal involves targeting groups that use the words tea party, patriots, and 9/12 project in their names.
Newspapers should ID online commenters
By Michael Smerconish
05/12/2013
Show us your face. That's my solution to the online issue of incivility to which Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie recently fell victim at Philly.com.
Newspapers should ID online commenters
By Michael Smerconish
05/12/2013
Show us your face. That's my solution to the online issue of incivility to which Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie recently fell victim at Philly.com.
 
Reacting, or overreacting, to terror 04/28/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Michael Smerconish: When the Boston Globe conducted an online discussion of whether the lockdown of the city during the hunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was overkill, one of its columnists, Lawrence Harmon, weighed in: "Friday's lockdown was more than an abundance of caution.
 
What bias in Gosnell coverage? 04/21/2013
By Michael Smerconish
The national media descended on the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia last week, shamed into covering the murder trial of Kermit Gosnell by a misplaced sense of obligation. That arrival was compelled by a newspaper column written in USA Today by Kirsten Powers, who insinuated that the case was being ignored because of bias.
 
What bias in Gosnell coverage? 04/21/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Bias? Hardly The idea the media have an agenda in the Gosnell case is illogical. Smerconish, C1.
 
In polarized broadcast world, time to turn dial 04/14/2013
By Michael Smerconish
I signed off from the AM radio band Friday. Starting Monday, I will be heard exclusively on SiriusXM's POTUS Channel 124. After 23 years on a terrestrial radio platform, this represents a major change. But while many see it as a futuristic move, given that 24 million Americans now have satellite radios, I refer to it as a return to my roots.
 
Musharraf, at home on the Main Line 04/07/2013
By Michael Smerconish
The Pulse: He likes the ambience of Savona in Gulph Mills, enjoys the food at Alma de Cuba in Center City and Fleming's Steakhouse in St. Davids, and appreciates the views from the Water Works overlooking the Schuylkill.
 
Being stalked - by cookies 03/31/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Michael Smerconish: Ann Richards is stalking me.
 
Open primaries would aid the GOP 03/24/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Michael Smerconish: Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called it an "autopsy."
 
Food giants engineering the recipe for obesity 03/17/2013
By Michael Smerconish
I'm certain Sarah Palin spoke for many when she tweeted upon hearing the news that a New York judge had prevented implementation of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to regulate sugary drinks:
 
Cameras belong in the courts 03/10/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Justice Antonin Scalia raised eyebrows when, in the midst of the Supreme Court argument over the Voting Rights Act, he said the landmark civil rights legislation was now the "perpetuation of racial entitlement."
 
He wrote the book. 03/03/2013
Keeping the fires burning
By Michael Smerconish
I'm typing in front of a crackling hearth, with regret that March has arrived. Don't get me wrong, I'm ready for spring. But, soon, the arrival of warm weather will also mark the end of the wood-burning season. Such is my love for burning fires all winter long that when our family vacationed in Florida at Christmas, I made sure to t
More Stories
 
Tough win against Parking Authority 02/24/2013
By Michael Smerconish
Smerconish's book club
A Q&A with Michael Smerconish - and former Gov. Ed Rendell.
Listen »