Tavis Smiley, 10/24/12

PBS talk show host, PRI radio host

Too many close elections are decided by the margin of eligible voter absence at the polls. Turnout matters. What's your excuse going to be?

Jamal Abdi, 10/24/12

Policy Director, National Iranian American Council

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies has been given a free pass by the WSJ to argue for sanctions that will starve ordinary people, and for a new war based on distorted facts. We saw with Iraq what happens when the media turns a blind eye to the blatant distortion of reality.

Elizabeth Higgins Clark, 10/24/12

Actress

Ann Coulter is just one of many. Her use of the word "retard" in recent diatribes against President Obama only echoes a prevalent notion that comparing someone to the mentally handicapped is a clever put-down.

Eric Boehlert, 10/24/12

Senior Fellow, Media Matters for America

Whereas Hannity once bemoaned efforts by partisans to play politics with the war on terror (out of bounds!), Hannity this week bemoaned the fact the Republican presidential candidate declined to play politics with terrorism.

Curtis Gans, 10/24/12

Director, Center for the Study of the American Electorate

Washington watchdogs are appalled by the sea of money washing over the 2012 election. The rest of the nation is appalled by how that money is used -- mostly on tit-for-tat attack ads that pollute the airwaves and undermine any respect for the democratic process.

Terry Krepel, 10/24/12

Founder and Editor, ConWebWatch.com; Senior Editor, Media Matters

He's still at it, but he's no more truthful now than he was then -- and even the birthers are catching on.

Beth Broderick, 10/24/12

Actress, founding member of MOMENTUM

In spite of the media's desperate attempt to convince you otherwise and thereby maintain the breathless "horse race," Obama is well ahead in many ways that no one is discussing and everyone should know.

Steven L. Spiegel, 10/24/12

Professor of Political Science, UCLA

The critics are simply wrong. Obama has been an exceptional supporter of Israel where it counts -- on the hard-core security and diplomatic issues that provide assistance and protection in a very dangerous region.

Al Eisele, 10/23/12

Editor-at-Large, The Hill

You call that a foreign policy debate? I call it the Big Bore in Boca Raton. I've seen and heard better debates over America's role in the world at my local Irish bar.

Ivanley Noisette, 10/23/12

Human Rights Activist

The 24-hour news cycle is not always conducive to objective truth-seeking. Instead, it is often more proficient at focusing on surface generalizations and reaching premature and sometimes baseless conclusions.

Howard Sherman, 10/23/12

Arts management consultant & theater pundit

I urge those who have or would have paywalls to continue to treat the arts as a loss leader and maintain that coverage online for free or almost free, outside of local and national news, business coverage and sports.

Dan Kennedy, 10/23/12

Assistant Professor, School of Journalism at Northeastern University

You may recall that liberals gave Obama an ungodly thrashing earlier this month. In contrast, establishment conservatives today are hailing Romney's performance as good enough for a challenger they think is in the better position to win.

Dr. Jim Taylor, 10/24/12

Adjunct professor, University of San Francisco

How can children these days avoid being infected with this "disease" when, thanks to the wired world they live in, the majority of messages they receive venerate and encourage narcissism?

Jamie Lee Curtis, 10/23/12

Actress and children's book author

Haven't seen one of those yellow bracelets yet. I'm sure they're coming. We should all wear both of them as we are all both of them, for to LIVE is to LIE.

Robert L. Borosage, 10/23/12

President, Institute for America's Future

There's a haunting Orwellian aura to Romney's shape shifting. Suddenly, the past is rewritten. Previous positions are, to use Nixon's phrase, "inoperative." Utterly new positions are asserted as ones that have always been firmly held.

Taylor Cole Miller, 10/23/12

Doctoral student in media and cultural studies, University of Wisconsin at Madison

As children of television, we are wont to believe that what we see on TV accurately reflects what's happening in the era. When you think of the 1950s, you might call up images of I Love Lucy or The Honeymooners to color in what you might never know -- what life was actually like in the 1950s.

Tom Engelhardt, 10/23/12

Editor, TomDispatch.com

Obesity is an American plague -- and no, I'm not talking about overweight Americans. I'm talking about Big Election, the thing that's moved into our homes and, especially if you live in a "swing state," is now hogging your television almost 24/7.