http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists Tony Norman's column en-us Copyright 2012, post-gazette.com. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 07:09:55 -0500 15 http://www.post-gazette.com/includes/2007design/images/150x30pg_now_logo.gif http://www.post-gazette.com/ 144 39 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12041/1209241-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml When I heard that Karl Rove was offended by a TV ad that ran during the Super Bowl, there was a brief moment of dread when I thought we finally had something in common. I, too, was offended by an ad that ran during the holiest of American high holidays. Alas, Mr. Rove and I were offended by two different ads. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12038/1208561-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml When a co-worker brought "Letter from a Freedman to His Old Master" to my attention last week, I was immediately intrigued. The letter purports to be from Jourdon Anderson, a runaway slave, to his former "owner," Col. P.H. Anderson. It was written on Aug. 7, 1865, several months after the end of the Civil War. Jourdan lived in Dayton, Ohio. The colonel lived in Big Spring, Tenn. Tue, 7 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12034/1207784-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml Mitt Romney may not be the most callous candidate who has ever run for president, but he is surely the most out of touch. Everything about the GOP frontrunner screams awkwardness around those in lower income brackets. Ironically, most Americans earn less money but are in higher tax brackets than Mitt "Mr. 15 Percent" Romney. Fri, 3 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12031/1207111-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml In an era of rugged individualism and mindless austerity, there's something almost quaint about the concept of public transportation. When you think about it, public transit has the same old-world cachet as other once-indispensable facts of modern life. Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12027/1206268-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml If there's one subject that conservatives love to gas on and on about it is Ronald Reagan. To hear them speak of the late, sainted president, every word the Gipper ever uttered was sacred. Today, his speeches are treated as without flaw by the conservative faithful. Reagan wasn't just the 40th president of the United States, as far as his spiritual heirs are concerned. Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12024/1205534-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml Eventually, Newton Leroy Gingrich's ship is going to crash upon the rocks of Republican realpolitik. When it does, we'll look back on the days of his ugly insurgency with amazement and incredulity. After winning the South Carolina primary in a blowout no one could have imagined two weeks ago, the former speaker of the House is feeling validated by a tiny corner of the electorate. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12020/1204767-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml It was only last year that former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was considered a leading candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He was widely touted as one of the smoothest operators in the GOP and a tactician without peer. The very popular two-term governor had a homespun charm and a keen intelligence that would've come in handy in debates against President Obama. Fri, 20 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12017/1203970-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml Last week, video footage of four U.S. Marines urinating on the bodies of three dead Taliban fighters went viral. With the exception of a handful of morally dead ideologues on the right, the reaction to the video was one of revulsion at home and fury abroad. Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:08:00 -0500 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12013/1203194-153-0.stm?cmpid=norman.xml When I go to Einstein Brothers Bagels in the morning for a cup of hot tea, I see black people. Among the cash register, the cappuccino machine and the bagel bar, I can spot multiple black people serving customers. It's not a big deal. That's also the case with Bruegger's Bagels, Dunkin' Donuts and Au Bon Pain when I stop into any of those places to break up the morning routine. Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:00:00 -0500