Not least because I was 12 years old, the Bicentennial festivities felt very different from this year's 250th birthday celebrations for the United States. This being America, commercialization was inevitable — everything was red, white and blue and was official whatever of the shindig. Overall, though, 1976 was a nonpartisan affair despite being an election...

As with the weather, everyone complains about the Democrats, but no one does anything about them. Well, we do point out what the perennial hapless loyal opposition is doing wrong. But we rarely offer useful suggestions for what they ought to do instead. Democrats are favored to take back the House in this year's midterm...