BIDEN: I'M 'COMFORTABLE' WITH GAY MARRIAGE

Richard N. Haass, 05/02/12

President, Council on Foreign Relations

Past sacrifice is a poor justification for continued sacrifice unless it is warranted. The truth is that while the United States still has interests in Afghanistan, none of them, other than opposing al-Qaeda, rise to the level of vital.

Emilio Estevez, 05/04/12

Writer, director

What could you possibly glean from a book about two men who've been in the public eye for over fifty years, where everything there is to know about them can be uncovered by the click of keyboard? Well, it turns out, plenty.

Arianna Huffington, 05/01/12

The Obama administration has every reason to celebrate the anniversary of Osama bin Laden's killing, as does the country. Less laudable is Obama's attack ad questioning whether Mitt Romney would have made the same call to go after the man behind the 9/11 attacks.

David Bromwich, 05/03/12

Professor of Literature at Yale

In his campaign to win the election as a war president, Barack Obama flatters the worst vices of chauvinism and panders to the most vulgar and brutal idea of the qualities that define a leader and the actions that ennoble a country. No alchemy of eloquence can atone for the confession of moral surrender involved in such a boast.

Jason Linkins and Elyse Siegel, 05/04/12

CNN is terrible. A God-awful, wall-to-wall, epic mess. And now, they have, in their hands, the clearest sign yet of how bad things have actually gotten.

Marian Wright Edelman, 05/04/12

President, Children's Defense Fund

The growth in hate groups and the use of their divisive and negative language in the mainstream political and media arena is cause for national alarm.

Ryan Gosling and John Prendergast, 05/01/12

After you learn a little about Fidel, there are other profiles of courageous Congolese living their lives and standing up for what they believe in. We hope you'll take the time to watch these profiles and get to know Congo and its people a little better.

Bill Maher, 04/30/12

Host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher"

Free the Animals tells the riveting, real-life story of the people who put on disguises, use fake IDs, or jimmy their way into laboratories in order to carry out the daring rescues of animals used in experiments and of the insiders, the whistleblowers, who risk their jobs to help them.

Eleanore S. Wells, 05/02/12

Author, The Spinsterlicious Life

In our very modern society, a wife is held in high esteem, a divorcee gets credit for trying and people just feel sorry for the always-single woman who's never gotten a man to say "I do."

Bill McKibben, 05/03/12

Author of a dozen books, including 'The End of Nature' and 'Deep Economy'

The fossil-fuel industry has funded endless efforts to confuse people, to leave an impression that nothing much is going on. But -- as with the tobacco industry before them -- the evidence has simply gotten too strong.

Michael Roth, 05/04/12

President, Wesleyan University

Our campuses should be places where diversity leads to learning as students come to see differences among people as a deep resource for solving problems and seeking opportunities. Online education can complement this educational environment. But it does not replace the need for it.

Michelle Rhee, 04/30/12

Founder and CEO of StudentsFirst

This is the basic truth I want to tell these schools: it doesn't matter if a school is a for-profit or a non-profit, it needs to be doing a good job educating students. And if it's failing to do that, it should be shut down.

Cheech Marin, 05/03/12

Actor/Comedian/Activist/Art Collector

To me, you have to declare yourself a Chicano in order to be a Chicano. That makes a Chicano a Mexican-American with a defiant political attitude that centers on his or her right to self-definition. I'm a Chicano because I say I am.

Dr. Peggy Drexler, 05/04/12

Author, 'Our Fathers, Ourselves. Daughters, Fathers, and the Changing American Family'

The fact is that no parent -- be it mom or dad -- should/can be all things at all times to his or her child.

Cesar Millan, 05/02/12

Dog Whisperer and CEO of CesarsWay.com

Stray and abandoned dogs are reproducing faster than we can find homes for them, and if spaying and neutering doesn't increase dramatically, we are going to see the problem get completely out of control.

Russell Simmons, 05/02/12

Founder, GlobalGrind.com

Our democracy has been hijacked. The corporations and special interests pay our politicians to do their bidding instead of the people's. This legal bribery has to stop.

Marlo Thomas, 05/03/12

Award-winning actress, author, and activist

Long before she became the "Divine Miss M," Bette Midler was a divine little girl with a divine love of nature.

Jim Wallis, 05/03/12

Christian leader for social change

How we live and what we do for the common good is much more important than how we vote. Political affiliation with candidates, parties, and structures is waning -- especially among young people -- and that's good news.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, 05/04/12

U.S. Representative from Ohio's 10th District

What happened as a result of the Kent State shootings is well-documented. What we still don't know, to this day, is why the shootings took place. An audio recording of the events may have answers.

Lorraine Devon Wilke, 05/03/12

Writer; Photographer; Rock & Roll Vet

The bar for gratuitous, arbitrary, and generally female nudity is getting more and more extreme while appearing less and less essential. So let's go down the list at both networks, in no particular order, and flesh out a few of the more egregious examples.

Sen. Bernie Sanders, 04/30/12

Independent U.S. Senator from Vermont

The right-wing in this country is waging a war against women and, let me be very clear, it is not a war that we are going to allow them to win. When men and women stand together for justice, we win.

Ted Kaufman, 04/30/12

Fmr. U.S. Senator from Delaware

I doubt it. After years of not having to worry much about what their shareholders thought, the Citigroup vote was a wake up call for every corporate board of directors.

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, 05/03/12

Former Governor of Michigan, Faculty at UC Berkeley, Host of "The War Room with Jennifer Granholm" on Current TV

Often, change does come more quickly from the inside rather than the outside. Become an alternative to the Tea Party. And then, once that happens, occupy the majority in Congress.

Evan Shapiro, 05/01/12

President, Participant Television

Welcome to TV in America, where violence, no matter how malicious or senseless, is just fine but sex is decried, maligned and verboten in all but the most secure corners of the schedule. TV's ban on sexuality not only covers scenes of nudity or sexual acts, but our very language itself.