Justin Trudeau promised “sunny ways” in his victory speech and proclaimed, “A positive, optimistic, hopeful vision of public life isn’t a naïve dream—it can be a powerful force for change.”

36,000 Kansans made an effort to register that was pointless, perhaps misleadingly so.

Has Obama's rhetoric of transcending partisanship lost its appeal?

Pope Francis has been treated as if he were just person running for president.

The abrupt resignation of John Boehner as Speaker of the House of Representatives is almost universally blamed on the impossible standards of his fellow Republicans.

A cynic would think of such “information” as polling numbers and fundraising totals keeping members of Congress from acting on many of the issues raised by Francis, including economic inequality, climate change, abortion and the death penalty, and immigration reform. But some political differences are not only a matter of conscience, but also of advanced knowledge.