Marlo Thomas, 02/23/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

What is fresh about this year's movies is the range of choices the actresses had. I was struck by the fact that this year's crop of women have moved into areas previously inhabited by male actors -- and, wow, were they good.

Robert Scheer, 02/23/12

Editor, Truthdig.com; Author, 'The Great American Stickup'

Here we go again. With the economy showing faint signs of life and their positions on the social issues alienating most moderates, the leading Republican candidates, with the exception of Ron Paul, have returned to the elixir of warmongering to once again sway the gullible masses.

Alan Schroeder, 02/22/12

Professor, School of Journalism, Northeastern University

Of the four contenders, Rick Santorum had the best night. It has taken him twenty debates, but Santorum finally ended up with the primo onstage real estate, right next to Mitt Romney at the heart of the action.

Ellen DeGeneres, 02/23/12

Animatrice, 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'

If I've said it once, I've said it 18 times, Meryl Streep is brilliant as Margaret Thatcher. I said it would earn her an Oscar nomination and it did. I can't believe how unbelievably believable she was.

Robert L. Borosage, 02/23/12

President, Institute for America's Future

We have a debate between the right -- Republicans like Mitt Romney who would cut corporate taxes and ask them to pay less -- and a business-friendly, centrist president who won't call on corporations to pay more. "Fair share?" -- not so much.

Meredith Bodgas, 02/23/12

Blogger, MeritalBliss.com

I didn't change my last name when I married my husband Paul. Learn from these mistakes and never utter these words to women still proudly sporting their maiden names.

MJ Rosenberg, 02/22/12

Senior Foreign Policy Fellow, Media Matters Action Network

Presidents need latitude to make decisions affecting matters of national security (another name for matters of life and death) and, until now, all presidents have been afforded it, as provided for in the United States Constitution. But, in the case of Iran, the rules are changing.

José Rodríguez-Suárez, 02/23/12

Deputy Secretary of State of Puerto Rico

The positions that candidates take on Puerto Rico issues will influence the increasingly important group of voters of Puerto Rico origin in the U.S. However, candidates may not have realized that what they say about Puerto Rico can also have a significant impact on Hispanic voters in general.

Rev. Dr. Janet Edwards, 02/23/12

Presbyterian minister

God knew me and loved me before I was even formed. God chose to make me bisexual.

Scott Stenholm, 02/23/12

Staffer, HBO’s 'Real Time with Bill Maher' & Contributing Writer for The Daily Beast

When Rick Santorum chooses to not embrace the good that science can do for all of 'God's children', he may make for a more attractive conservative candidate for his base, but a good Christian he is not.

Brant Secunda and Mark Allen, 02/23/12

Shaman-healer, Six-time world champion Ironman

If you want to lose weight or avoid weight gain, one step is to get a handle on your stress. Sounds good, but what do you do when you're facing a really difficult problem and it's stressing you out? Here are some simple ways to manage the stress, calm down, and turn your fat-burning machine back on.

Menachem Rosensaft, 02/23/12

Professor of law and son of Holocaust survivors

No one says that Buchanan is not bright and personable. He is, however, a bigot so far outside the American political mainstream that he should never have been given legitimacy by MSNBC in the first place.

Howard Fineman, 02/20/12

Editorial Director, AOL Huffington Post Media Group

In spite of the ever-deepening flood of candidate advertising, politics (and journalism) today are do-it-yourself, web-based and socially-connected enterprises. Which is where you come in.

Margaret Cho, 02/22/12

Comedian, actor, and recording artist

My former bullies pay extra to come backstage and meet me after shows, and I pretend not to know them in front of their friends. It is the most divine pleasure to exact the revenge of the brutalized child that resides within.

Robert Reich, 02/22/12

Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy, University of California at Berkeley; Author, 'Aftershock'

Why isn't the White House just proposing to close the loopholes without reducing overall corporate tax rates? That would generate more tax revenue that could be used for, say, public schools.

Dennis A. Henigan, 02/22/12

Acting President, Brady Campaign; Author, 'Lethal Logic'

The solution to gun trafficking to Mexico is also the solution to gun trafficking within the U.S.: stronger federal gun laws.

Arianna Huffington, 02/21/12

With unemployment still over 8 percent, we currently have more ingenuity, energy, and expertise than we have jobs -- and definitely more time on our hands. That's one reason I was so drawn to Abundance, a new book by Peter Diamandis and Steven Kotler.

Carla Lohr, 02/22/12

Online professional; Volunteer, Shriner's Hospital for Children

We as a society need to step back and rethink the view we have of disabled children. And the parents who are raising these children have to get serious about bringing these children up with the understanding that they can live their lives to the fullest.

Michael Fauntroy, 02/22/12

Professor, Author, Columnist, and Commentator at MichaelFauntroy.com.

The majority of election cycles between 1964 and 2010 resulted in House incumbent reelection rates of at least 90 percent. Those are Kim Jung Il and Robert Mugabe numbers that legitimately call into question the fundamental tenet of American democracy.

Jeffrey Wasserstrom, 02/22/12

Professor of History, UC Irvine

Rituals of every community, including that of Homo Academicus, can benefit from the infusion of new participants.

Rep. Charles Rangel, 02/22/12

Representative from the 15th Congressional District in New York

Since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the historic Social Security Act of 1935, unemployment insurance has kept American families from falling into poverty. Seventy seven years later, this vital lifeline for unemployment insurance recipients continues to be weakened.

Joseph A. Palermo, 02/22/12

Associate Professor of American History, California State University, Sacramento

President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are fond of repeating the tag line: "Don't compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative." And the "alternative" is very scary. But that strategy won't work.

Suleika Jaouad and Seamus McKiernan, 02/22/12

If it takes a village to raise a child, you might say it also takes one to care for the sick. Cancer is at once personal and communal. And yet, caring for the sick can feel like writing a travelogue about a country you've never visited. You can't know where you haven't been.

Mike Lux, 02/21/12

Co-founder and CEO, Progressive Strategies

There is simply no way to read the Bible I read and not come to the conclusion that it is overwhelmingly supportive of helping the poor, showing mercy to the weak, refraining from judging, and all kinds of other liberal, lefty, progressive values.