Writing a newspaper column is both a privilege and a burden. It seems easy at first, but as one reader advised me: “Writing a newspaper column is like being married to a nymphomaniac. It’s only fun ...

I had a great idea for a column this week. Unfortunately, this isn’t it. After about 20 minutes of deep soul-searching, it occurred to me that some of you might be wondering how I write these columns.

As if life weren’t depressing enough these days, The Washington Post had a real pick-me-up of an article last week that about ...