WASHINGTON - My inner Pollyanna was basking in blissfulness, rolling in the hay of righteous rhetoric, backstroking through the sunny sibilance of aspiration. Drunk, apparently, on alliteration. It was a perfect day. Cold but not freezing.

WASHINGTON (AP) - It was altogether a more intimate affair than four years ago. Just a party of untold hundred thousands, chilling in the nation's backyard.

Ambition is a strong component of the American character. From rags to riches, log house to White House, community organizer to commander in chief, nowhere is this idea more pronounced than in the American presidency.

One definition of "imperial" on dictionary.com is, "of the nature or rank of an emperor or supreme ruler." At his news conference Monday, a petulant, threatening and confrontational President Obama spoke like an emperor or supreme ruler.

WASHINGTON - After the slaughter last month of 20 schoolchildren at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., cynics said the response wouldn't be any different from those to the many mass killings that came before.

Revolutionary changes are coming at us at supersonic speed, bringing new challenges that are existential and global. Yet our political system seems incapable of adapting to, or even fully acknowledging, those changes.

Congratulations! The cost of your health insurance is increasing. What? You don't think that's a reason for celebration? Good, you're avoiding a mistake that's far too common among economic analysts, especially Republicans.

"I'm a pretty friendly guy," President Obama said near the end of his White House news conference Monday afternoon.

Much ink has been spilled over what's wrong with Washington. The rise of partisan media, too much money in politics and congressional gerrymandering that rewards ideologues with safe seats have all been offered as diagnoses for government dysfunction.

The continuing drought in much of the U.S. has raised real concerns about long term fresh water supplies. 2012 was one of our country's driest years since official records began in 1880. Barges are now scraping bottoms on a shrinking Mississippi River.