The recent shooting at the Sikh Temple has brought racial hate-motivated violent extremism to the fore. Hate-motivated violent extremism directed against Muslims or look-alikes is a growing reality in white America and is the direct result of narratives that perpetuate the us vs. them mentality. Sikh women also cover their hair, and with the presence and prevalence of anti-hijab narratives, hateful, ignorant people tend not to know the difference. This is not to say "let's get the right target," because the point is that NO community should be wholesale targeted for the actions of its extremists and the same holds true for "white America."

"I've got a slogan for you," one eager audience member asked into the microphone during the Q & A period. "Immigrate, fornicate, legislate, and dominate. How do we stop the cycle?" While the man's statement may be jarring taken out of context, it was perfectly in tune with the atmosphere of the evening.

The administration's attempted financial penalization of the Roman Catholic Church, to impose what the pope has rightly called "militant secularism" at the expense of the Church's legitimate official canons, is oppressive, unconstitutional, repugnant, and the lowest form of political chicanery.

My sister is in San Francisco, and my family is from all over California. Their health and basic reproductive freedoms are in the hands of legislators and pundits. As I watch and read the heated rhetoric right now in the U.S., it makes me realize that this debate will never go anywhere while it is framed ideologically.

I propose that Democrats demonstrate bipartisan moral support by sponsoring Mr. Limbaugh's next sexual adventure. An all-expenses-paid tour to the Dominican Republic, with unlimited -- and fully prescribed -- Viagra.

Certainly, Clooney's high-profile but informal mode of public diplomacy takes attention away from front line workers. It does so, however, without building a rigid and competitive sense of hierarchy and institutionalized status. The real danger for Clooney is a sense of overexposure at a time of triumph.