Did you catch The Rev. Jesse Jackson the other night on CNN demanding a Senate hearing into why regulators never cracked down on that gruesome abortion clinic in Philadelphia?

When is the best time to get something done? There are a lot of different ways that people ask this question, but my initial reaction is: Whenever you have time to do it.

Two Arizona gun-rights groups said Wednesday that lawmakers should consider letting specially trained teachers and administrators carry guns into public schools to protect students against future attacks.

Ahwatukee Foothills resident Lisa Campbell is not your average Michael Jackson fan girl.

When a trusting young mother asks me for parenting advice I’m simultaneously flattered and terrified because while it is a compliment, it’s a lot of pressure. I didn’t Ferberize, or do “attachment,” or read Dr. Spock. I let the kids watch as much “Star Trek” as they liked, but I’m not sure that counts, so I don’t feel particularly qualified to be handing out advice.

In the latest labor report, 368,000 more Americans have stopped looking for work, artificially skewing the unemployment stats down. The recent report of 8.1 percent tricks the brain of the casual thinker. Try thinking about this: 12.5 million of your fellow Americans are out of work (Labor Department). Perhaps you are one of them or your child. See: www.money.cnn.com (2012 August jobs report).

OK, so who got the bounce from the conventions? Obama-Biden did. Initially, they received a national ratings bump of about 4 percent. As of a week later, the bounce had increased to the high single digits.

Dirty political campaigns are as old as the Founding Fathers.

Too bad Brian Beck had to waste space on the Opinion page with 10 lines stating how bad Republicans write without anything useful to offer (“Where are the Democrats?” AFN, July 18).

There’s not a lot of room for Ed Henry to make a style statement. The Fox News Channel chief White House correspondent pretty much has to stay in the box that is your TV screen.

This time four years ago, the mantra of “change” took center stage in our national political lexicon.

Well folks, the campaign has fully begun, launched by female drama; one woman publicly attacking another. However, it didn’t turn out quite the way Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen apparently hoped. Some say she got her talking orders directly from the White House when she attacked Ann Romney Wednesday night on CNN. But my guess is she didn’t need directions, she seemed comfortable in her strident remarks.

Despite the many suspicious aspects of the late February shooting of an unarmed black teenager, a mind-boggling logical fallacy by the local police department has protected the killer from arrest. According to a CNN report, the local Sanford, Fla., police failed to arrest shooter George Zimmerman in this highly suspicious killing because they had no evidence rebutting Zimmerman’s claim that he acted in self defense.

Recently, CNN reported rampant income tax fraud of a new sort. Thieves steal social security numbers then file tax returns on the accounts of these social security numbers. They then receive the refunds that were due honest working citizens. The segment went on to suggest the IRS is not doing its part to curtail such activities.

Debating in Mesa, the Republican presidential primary candidates blasted the Obama administration on its handling of the key Arizona issue of immigration.

Debating in Mesa, the Republican presidential primary candidates blasted the Obama administration on its handling of the key Arizona issue of immigration.

MESA -- The Republican presidential candidates are trying to avoid a debate on contraception and instead are looking to keep the focus of their criticism on President Barack Obama.

MESA -- The Republican presidential candidates are trying to avoid a debate on contraception and instead are looking to keep the focus of their criticism on President Barack Obama.

While Wednesday's presidential debate airs nationwide, at least some of the pitch by the four contenders will be toward someone sitting front and center: Gov. Jan Brewer.

Wednesday's Republican primary presidential debate at the Mesa Arts Center will be closed to the public, but the city will host a viewing party downtown where thousands can gather to watch the event live.