State laws, it should go without saying, end at the state line. When it comes to matters of state jurisdiction, there is no obligation on the part of one state to enforce the laws of another within its borders. If a state makes an exception to that principle, there ought to be a pretty good reason.

George W. Bush entered the White House expressing doubts about whether global warming is real or whether human activity is contributing to it. He has changed that tune, agreeing last week with G-8 leaders that carbon dioxide emissions must be substantially reduced. But on his return to Washington, Bush took an action that demonstrates that whatever he now thinks about global climate change, he will leave office without having done anything about it.

Ah, Iran, Muslim masters of the mixed message. That trait was on full display this week with Iran's decision to test-fire a reported nine medium- and long-range missiles as an apparent show of strength for Israel's eyes and America's. Well, maybe.

In the hysterical weeks that followed the 9/11 attacks, the Bush administration broke the law and embarked on a domestic spying program that gathered telephone records of private citizens.

Jesse Jackson is the latest in a troubling trend of people in the public spotlight who believe they can express their truthful views in private settings then blame the messenger rather than acknowledge their hypocrisy because what they say or do outside the public realm conflicts with the image they are crafting.

Having studied America's mortgage meltdown and the parties who struck the match, it's hard to resist cheering the reckoning for Countrywide Financial Corp. Call it subprime schadenfreude.

Finally, after nearly two terms, President Bush gets it. Not only does he acknowledge global warming is occurring, but he’s finally joining world leaders in an effort to lessen man’s impact on it. Or, at least he’s going though the motions, which for him is progress.

Republican or Democrat or unaffiliated, voters all should consider wearing flip-flops to the polls in November - popsicle toes though they might tempt - as a symbolic protest against the wishy-washy ways of their candidate of choice.

Even the worst events generally teach us something. It’s difficult to find any lesson in the killing of Robert A. Randall, 65, of Galesburg. Reportedly, Randall, a Maytag retiree, went out to wash his truck on a Saturday and never returned.

America is trapped in a B-list horror film: “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.” The salmonella scare continues to spread, with 943 cases of salmonella food poisoning covering 40 states.

Sen. John McCain wins friends with his self-deprecating sense of humor, but self-deprecation poses risks as well. Early in the campaign, McCain noted that he doesn't know much about economics, a bit of modesty the Democrats seem intent to brand on his forehead.

If 'America is addicted to oil,' as George W. Bush famously asserted in his 2006 State of the Union address, then why is the president encouraging America the Addict to dig around the couch cushions, scrounging up loose change to fund its fix?

Arguments about domestic policy have been stuck in the 20th century - between FDR's social welfare state and Reagan's social Darwinism. You've got nanny-state liberals on one hand who want to use government to penalize people for making bad decisions, such as smoking cigarettes and buying guns, and nanny-state conservatives who want to impose their religious values on individual choices about sex and reproduction.

The advertising industry has long recognized the value of repetition when you have a product to sell. Brain researchers are just now figuring out why that is, and their conclusions hold some lessons for political campaigns.

If there's a hall of fame for unintended consequences, it ought to save room for the federal corn ethanol requirement.