So, political courage does exist in Washington. After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (KY) announced that he would be joining 13 other Republican Senators in a possible filibuster to prevent gun legislation from even making it to the floor for a discussion, yesterday afternoon six Republican Senators announced that they would not support their colleagues. Senators John McCain (AZ), Lindsey Graham (SC), Mark Kirk (Ill),...

The sequester; Republicans blame the president; the president blames them back; the Catholic sex abuse scandal, same sex marriage, voting rights, gun control, Martha Stewart vs. Macy’s… AND the Pope says, “I’m Outta here!” Obstruction, power, intolerance, hubris – The Four Horsemen ride again. After my commentary on Downton Abbey, one reader wrote, “I am distressed by almost everything going on right now in...

The president’s State of the Union address signals the start of a new federal cycle. What will this new chapter bring? How will the elected few guide the nation? Here are some thoughts for both Congress and the president to consider. At the close of Mr. Jefferson’s Declaration are these immortal words: “…we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,...

Another story under the media radar, but represents a continuing effort by some lawmakers to improve conditions in Washington in spite of obstacles. On January 23, Republican Senators Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and David Vitter of Louisiana re-introduced legislation calling for term limits on members of Congress. “Congress should not be a body of career politicians who have forgotten why they...

Of all the ethics-related issues I’ve discussed, the controversy surrounding gun ownership has been the most difficult for two reasons. First, the issue embraces at least four ethical values: respect, responsibility, citizenship and fairness. Add to that the multiple stakeholders, generally divided into two camps. Whatever position appears fair to one group is viewed as patently unfair by another. Here...

Former Texas Representative (D) Jack Brooks died this week. Brooks led Massachusetts Senator John Kennedy’s 1960 presidential campaign in his home district of Texas. After Kennedy’s assassination, he was present for the swearing-in of Lyndon Johnson aboard Air Force One (just behind Jackie Kennedy on the right). Brooks not only helped write Kennedy’s signature Civil Rights Act, he was one of...

This image along with Governor Chris Christie’s words of praise for President Obama’s actions concerning disaster-struck New Jersey have been played and replayed in video and news outlets for the last three days “The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit,” Christie said. “I’ve been on the phone with him, like I said, yesterday, personally, three...

What former Republican representative Mickey Edwards proposes in his new book, The Parties versus the People, can be seen by both Democrat and Republican parties as nothing short of heresy for a political system that has benefited them so much in the past. Both parties tightly control the process from primary through general elections, right into congressional committees. “We cannot go...

After serving 16 years as a Republican Congressman from Oklahoma, Mickey Edwards saw, firsthand, how the political system became dysfunctional. In a book that I believe should be required reading for anyone who wants a clear explanation, as well as solutions, to the gridlock facing Washington, Edwards latest book, The Parties versus The People – How to Turn Republicans and Democratsinto Americans makes...

“Heresy: any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs, customs, etc.” “[James] Madison understood that in the end, democracy is not about policy but about process – it’s about how we select our leaders, how we deliberate, how we decide – and it is the process itself that has broken down.” I’m going to tell you about...