September 19, 2013
Pain and Suffering
Dick Armey, the former House Majority Leader and the former head of Freedom Works, used to say in leadership meetings, “the pain is mandatory but the suffering is optional.” In those days, when Armey’s role in the leadership was scheduling...
September 18, 2013
This Other Town
Mark Leibovich wrote a memorable book about official Washington, its fancy parties, its self-absorbed culture, the incestuous nature of lobbyists, journalists, pundits, strategists, party planners and socialites. But there’s a whole other town out there, right under the nose of...
September 17, 2013
Where Our Politics Stand
Things were going along fine until Katrina hit. Or maybe it just seemed that way. After the debacle in New Orleans, people started to look differently at America. Public opinion turned quickly against the Bush administration, especially when the president...
September 16, 2013
Navy Yard
It’s awfully hard to concentrate on work when a mass shooting happens about 4 blocks away from your house. I had driven right by Nationals Stadium at 7am this morning, had taken a right on M Street and had gone...
September 12, 2013
Repo Club
The number one candidate backed by the Club for Growth is not only a trial lawyer but also a Repo Man. Bryan Smith, who is running against Mike Simpson in the second district of Idaho, is pretty well known commodity...
September 11, 2015
9/11 Remembered
Here is an essay about how my day went on September 11th. It was a clear, crisp September morning, the kind of day that makes Washington a glorious place to live in the Fall. I woke up later than I...