Mona Charen is a syndicated columnist and political analyst living in the Washington, D.C., area. She received her undergraduate degree at Barnard College, Columbia University, with honors. Ms. Charen also holds a degree in law from George Washington University. Ms. Charen began her career at National Review magazine, where she served as editorial assistant. On her first tax return at the age of 22, Ms. Charen listed her occupation as "pundit," explaining later, "You have to think big." In 1984, Ms. Charen joined the White House staff, serving first as Nancy Reagan's speechwriter and later as associate director of the Office of Public Liaison. In the latter post, she lectured widely on the administration's Central America policy. Later in her White House career, she worked in the Public Affairs office helping to craft the president's overall communications strategy. In 1986, Ms. Charen left the White House to join the presidential quest of then-Congressman Jack Kemp as a speechwriter. Ms. Charen launched her syndicated column in 1987, and it has become one of the fastest-growing columns in the industry. It is featured in more than 200 papers, including the Boston Globe, Baltimore Sun, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and The Washington Times. She spent six years as a regular commentator on CNN's "Capital Gang" and "Capital Gang Sunday," and has served as a judge of the Pulitzer Prizes. She is the author of two best sellers: "Useful Idiots: How Liberals Got it Wrong in the Cold War and Still Blame America First" (2003), and "Do-Gooders: How Liberals Harm Those They Claim to Help -- and the Rest of Us" (2005). Ms. Charen is a frequent guest on television and radio public affairs programs and is married with three children. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2008 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ The rescue of three Americans from the jungles of South America is a terrific Fourth of July present to the nation. (And John McCain gets high marks for timing in being present for the happy event.) American contractors... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/07/04/democrats_disdain_our_best_latin_american_ally e81dbfbc-480f-443c-a992-45d674da9cf6 Fri, 04 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT In the United States today we no longer enjoy the rule of law but instead the rule of lawyers -- robed lawyers with the exalted title "justice" -- but still unelected lawyers enacting their own policy... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/06/27/the_republic_of_kennedy b0608178-0fe0-41f0-97d1-36870e6b4a1e Fri, 27 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT I am so excited by Barack Obama's new politics. Like Chris Matthews, I got a thrill down my leg when the senator announced his candidacy promising a "new kind of politics." As I recall, he said, "Our leaders in... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/06/20/oooh,_the_new_politics f44a68f7-0809-49e5-afb4-515dac40cac1 Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT Well, well, well. Look who's censoring the Internet. It's Andrew Cuomo, attorney general of the Empire State. On June 11, Cuomo announced an agreement with three of the nation's largest Internet service providers --... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/06/13/look_whos_censoring_now a6e08385-578b-4a5d-a289-41213fa87fb7 Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT Do American Jews really love Israel, or just Democrats? Last week, 7,000 members of the storied AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) rose to their feet to honor Barack Obama a total of 13 times. The first... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/06/06/who_do_they_love 54136dbd-197e-452a-b5e7-c213a2ea95b0 Fri, 06 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT So much for the idea that Bush went to war for cheap oil. Yes, I know, they're now imagining that high gas prices are actually lining the pockets of the president's cronies at Exxon and Sunoco. But this is not an... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/05/30/oil_woes_left_and_right 02ab20ee-6d33-4f7a-9c44-cf3908a628e9 Fri, 30 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT Does the outcome of last month's election in Italy have any relevance to the U.S.? A youngish center-left candidate who claimed to represent a new politics of hope, "Si puo fare," ("It can be done") lost decisively... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/05/23/trash_and_politics_italian_style 53b41052-bf14-47f2-9a32-1ddda0def862 Fri, 23 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT Sixty is pretty old for a country. Consider that by the time the United States was 60 (counting from the conclusion of the War of Independence), the year was 1843. We'd already had 10 presidents, had nearly... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/05/09/did_israel_drive_out_the_arabs_60_years_ago 513cb345-4dc3-4d75-8370-8b3cfaecb6ba Fri, 09 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT This week millions of high school seniors across the nation will mail forms and checks to colleges announcing their intention to matriculate. It's the culmination of what some say was the toughest year ever to pry... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/05/02/what_were_buying_at_college 8c519f2f-e619-4698-b4fa-ce7e9bab1ac4 Fri, 02 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT They don't have enough to eat. Five people are dead in Port Au Prince, Haiti after a week of food riots. Unions in Burkina Faso have called a general strike to protest the high cost of grain. Food riots have rocked... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/04/25/let_them_eat_ethanol 44f25cc5-9577-47eb-9e6f-9c303996c197 Fri, 25 Apr 2008 04:01:00 GMT You jaded citizens may be bored silly by these seemingly endless candidate debates. But last night's encounter between the two Democrats was an entertainment milestone. I say give me more! Who has ever seen a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/04/18/more_debates_please! 6f7a6884-6763-4da6-8280-20aa877c6ffa Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:01:00 GMT The public schools, perhaps more than any other institution in American life, are afflicted with "sounds good" syndrome. Let's teach kids about the dangers of smoking. Sounds good. Let's improve math scores with a new... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/04/12/character_counts,_but_not_by_race 89029ce7-fdc2-4b4a-9124-c98fc6a3ea70 Sat, 12 Apr 2008 04:01:00 GMT If there's one thing the Democrats are certain they can accomplish provided they win in November (and it doesn't matter, for this purpose, which of the two candidates becomes the nominee) it will be the restoration... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/04/04/do_we_care_what_they_think_of_america b8490f9e-1553-4f31-afb2-17ab6667908b Fri, 04 Apr 2008 04:01:00 GMT There are dozens of reasons for John McCain to be gloomy this spring. So many of the structural factors at work in this election redound to his disadvantage. To name just a few: 1) he seeks to succeed a very... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/03/28/a_veto-proof_congress 6515c54e-ee7c-43a3-b2c8-6dc1d64a9fdd Fri, 28 Mar 2008 04:01:00 GMT It's a mistake to try to pigeonhole Barack Obama. He is too smart and too agile to succumb to easy categorization. But the candidate's eloquence is often more of a curtain than a window to his soul -- and one is left... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MonaCharen/2008/03/21/throwing_grandma_over_the_side 102ad7f0-31bf-41df-9933-f2ed7857cee9 Fri, 21 Mar 2008 04:01:00 GMT