Chris Weigant, 08/06/12

Political writer and blogger at ChrisWeigant.com

Both the Occupiers and the Tea Partiers changed the American political conversation in a large way. Still, it cannot be denied that the Tea Party has moved closer to actually changing the American political system and its laws than the Occupiers have managed.

Michael B. Keegan, 08/06/12

President, People For the American Way

Here's a simple idea for the media: don't equate Ann Coulter's vitriol with analysis. And most importantly, realize that when you invite her to spew ill-informed extremism on your program, that's exactly what you're going to get.

Seamus McKiernan, 08/06/12

Associate Blog Editor, The Huffington Post

We didn't invent hatred or fear of the Other. The difference is that in America, guns -- even military-grade assault weapons -- are legal and easy to acquire. Hate, plus unregulated guns, is a deadly equation. And one that has the potential to curtail free expression.

John W. Whitehead, 08/06/12

Attorney and Author

What happened to Michael Salman -- armed police raids of his property, repeated warnings against holding any form of Bible study at his home, and a court-ordered probation banning him from having any gatherings of more than 12 people at his home -- should never have happened in America.

Jeffrey Sachs, 08/06/12

Director, Earth Institute at Columbia University; author, 'The Price of Civilization'

The economic problems in the U.S. and Eurozone are mostly structural, not monetary. Unfortunately ideologues and politicians on both sides of the spectrum are interested in quick fixes rather than the real groundwork of economic progress.

Michelangelo Signorile, 08/06/12

Editor-at-large, HuffPost Gay Voices; SiriusXM radio host

Our enemies distorted our message and reframed the story. And we allowed them to do it. How did we allow it to happen? Because there was no coordinated effort on our side.

Glenn W. Smith, 08/06/12

Author, consultant, Director, Progress Texas PAC

A portrait of America under Tea Party rule runs the risk of reading like dystopian science fiction. So be it. We should take the risk because a future Tea Party America would likely be such a dystopia, a place even tea partiers might fear to tread.

Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, 08/06/12

Senior Religion Editor, The Huffington Post

Yes, Sikhs are not Muslims and Sikhs are not Hindus, but jumping to clarify difference leaves the unfortunate, if unintentional, perception that there is something wrong with those "others."

Leo W. Gerard, 08/06/12

International President, United Steelworkers

In the case of fetuses and rich people, Republicans insist on the sanctity of life. But in the case of destitute people, infants who imprudently choose working-poor parents and struggling young adults the GOP says there's nothing sacred about their lives.

Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm, 08/06/12

Former governor of Michigan; faculty member, UC Berkeley; host, 'The War Room' on Current TV; columnist, Politico

She said this about public employees: "Government jobs, we're for losing government jobs." Well, guess what: Those NASA scientists hold government jobs. Officer Murphy has one of those awful government jobs. A huge number of nurses, teachers, and our soldiers are public employees.

Terry O'Neill, 08/06/12

President, National Organization for Women

The first thing women should know about the Romney-Ryan budget is that it has been called the single largest transfer of wealth from middle- and low-income earners to millionaires and billionaires in our country's history.

Mel Heifetz, 08/06/12

LGBT advocate

I just made the biggest political contribution of my life -- $1,000,000 to Priorities USA, the Super PAC working to help re-elect President Obama.

Eric Kingson and Nancy Altman, 08/06/12

Clearly, the deficit and fiscal constraints are not the real issue here. Ryan and his supporters just want to cut Social Security -- that is their political choice, not a necessity.

Edward D. Kleinbard, 08/06/12

Professor of Law, University of Southern California Gould School of Law

Did you know that the nonpartisan CBO recently demonstrated that the top 1 percent of American taxpayers "pay too much" in federal taxes? It was news to me, and no doubt to the CBO itself. We have Ari Fleischer to thank for this startling piece of disinformation.

Elisabeth MacNamara, 08/06/12

President, League of Women Voters of the United States

Forty-seven years ago this week, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the historic Voting Rights Act (VRA) into law to prevent voter discrimination. But as we have seen, the law is not just history; it remains vital today to ensuring that every American can cast a ballot and have it counted.

Rafael Fernández de Castro, 08/06/12

Living in the U.S. has made me realize how far Mexicans are from winning the drug war. We can continue to fight the cartels but we will never be able to beat Uncle Sam's insatiable 23 million drug consumers.

Brittney Bullock, 08/06/12

Blogger

Instead of pushing some arbitrary, fundamentalist Christian agenda that offers zero intrinsic value in solving the grandest issue of where do we go from here, let's remember the community of Aurora, the fragility of a moment, and look ahead in search of a true solution.