National Democrats

President Obama stepped to the podium in the White House at a press conference – with Afgnanistani President Karzai beside him – and said he’s bringing 66,000 American soldiers home from Afghanistan sooner rather than later (which sounded fine). Then he added, Because the Afghan Army is now ready to whip the Taliban all by…

To cure gun violence the Vice President met with the NRA, which told him the cure was fixing our broken culture – like violent video games; next the Vice President met with the video game industry which told him ‘Independent scientific research showed no connection between video games and real-life violence,’ then another group told…

Up in Congress the Democrats wanted to raise taxes on 2% of the people — while the Republicans wanted to cut government spending instead.   So they reached a compromise.   The result? They voted to raise taxes on 77% of the people — and to increase spending. How did that happen? It’s hard to…

A brawl followed by an outbreak of brawls erupted Sunday morning in the small insular world of politics;–it started on Meet the Press when Wayne LaPierre of the NRA said, ‘The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun‘ — David Gregory nodded politely, said, ‘That…

Back in the old days there was a breed of Congressman, rugged individualists, who, whenever he (or she) had to cast an unpopular vote, would shrug and say, Let the chips fall where they may.   That political animal is now all but extinct.             In the place of a troublesome conscience (when it comes…

Don’t underestimate how much the Newtown killings can change politics. It has happened before.   In 1995, President Clinton was struggling to be relevant in a Washington dominated by Newt Gingrich and his newly triumphant Republican majority. Then came the Oklahoma City bombing. Seizing the moment, Clinton spoke for the nation’s grief and anger. The…