Book review: As bad as the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan was, the real shame was the conduct of the war itself, a fact supported by Craig Whitlock's bestselling The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War.
Distinctly Catholic: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who signed the anti-abortion bill into law in May, has spent most of his tenure and all of the summer showing that fetal heartbeats are the only heartbeats he cares about.
We say: What can Americans do now about Afghanistan? We can expand our acceptance of refugees from Afghanistan, and other war-torn countries, while we're at it. And then we can vow not to do this again.
Distinctly Catholic: While the earth shook in Haiti, on the other side of the globe, tremors of a different sort were striking Afghanistan, a country that has been beset by war for the past 20 years.
NCR interview with video: Former Speaker of the House John Boehner calls Joe Biden "a good man, a good Catholic and a good politician." In his own memoir, Boehner doesn't mince words about former colleagues.
Former President George W. Bush, Cardinal Timothy Dolan and comedian Jay Leno are scheduled guests at the exclusive "FOCUS Founder's Forum," hosted by the Fellowship of Catholic University Students in October.
Distinctly Catholic: Fr. Lou Cameli balances the issues involves in denying Communion to people in same-sex marriages; George W. Bush publishes a surprising op-ed; new student loan legislation is worth supporting.
As Biden searches for his new Vatican diplomat, experts say the world's smallest state and one of the world's last superpowers are well-situated to have a relationship marked by collaboration, rather than contention.