our panelists are e.j. dionne, a senior fellow at the brookings institution, a columnist for the washington post and a profesr at georgetown university. also kevin eckstrom, editor of religion news service, and kim lawton, managing editor of "religion and ethics newsweekly." we begin with a video reminder of the major events of 2010 assembled by kim. >> it was a challenging year for interfaith relations, as american muslims faced new tensions on several fronts. plans for an islamic cultural center near the site of ground zero generated a firestorm of debate and protest, and the proposed construction of mosques in other communities generated opposition as well. a florida pastor's announced intention to burn the quran on the anniversary of 9/11 set off an international furor, including violent protests in several muslim nations. the pastor eventually backed off his plan, but controversy continued. leaders from several faith traditions joined with islamic leaders to denounce what they called "growing islamophobia" ac

. >> suarez: e.j. dionne and michael gerson offer their end of the year analysis filling in for mark shields and david brooks. >> brown: from minnesota, fred de sam lazaro tells the story of one monastery's mission to preserve sacred religious texts. >> if you believe that we can learn from the past, the past of our lives, the past of our families and our own nation or culture, the only way the past has come down to us is in the form of these writings. >> suarez: plus, we profile idaho-based poet karena youtz. >> brown: that's all ahead. on tonight's "newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> auto companies make huge profits. >> last year, chevron made a lot of money. >> where does it go? >> every penny and more went into bringing energy to the world. >> the economy is tough right now, everywhere. >> we pumped $21 million into local economies, into small businesses, communities, equipment, materials. >> that money could make a big difference to a lot of people. >> this was me-- be

i'm e.j. dionneand i'm proud to join you for this meeting of one of america's greatest organizations, the coalition of all who loved carla. and it's actually a sister organization to another one called the coalition of all who love david. and i think if any of us is ever asked, are you now or have you ever been a member of either of these coalitions, we will all probably say yes. thank you. we've heard about liberals you are said to love humanity but it's just individual human beings that can't stand. i'm not sure there's no one in this room like that, and i'm sure you don't know anyone like that. but i'm told such people exist. and that came to mind because no one could be more the opposite of that than carla. as everyone has testified already, carla truly loved people. she loves the people she knew, but she also loves people she had just gotten to know. i can say that because my kids felt her love in this bookstore. they love coming to politics and prose, because two things would happen. card would

. >> yes, somebody had -- maybe it was e.j. dionne. i saw it on the website. these are two columns in a row he has written complimentary of the president who for the last two years he has hit hard over a variety of things. but he believes that the tax deal that the president cut was one in which the president got far more out of it than did the republicans. he wrote that column a couple of weeks ago and now as the signing was about to take place as the passage was happening, he was essentially saying if in fact he wins re-election in 2012, we will look back to the day the announcement was made as the beginning of his comeback. so i think we have a little ways to go before we know the degree to which that comeback, quote-unquote, is really taking root. host: sean is joining us from phoenix. good morning. caller: good morning. how are you doing? host: fine, thank you. caller: about obama, the only thing you got to say is mr. obama, i am not really for the republicans or democrats or independent. obama is trying to do his job right. next thing you hear, obama is