https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/Thoughts and comments from a moderate Democrat. hourly12000-01-01T12:00+00:00https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/843678WE WOULD say that it’s conventional wisdom that Washington is paralyzed by partisan conflict — but that term would not adequately express how deeply this pessimistic view has embedded itself in the political culture. Like many widely held beliefs, “Washington is broken” has a basis in reality,...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/843527AS NEXT week’s midterm elections approach, Americans are in a dark mood. The latest Washington Post-ABC News poll, released Tuesday, reports that 68 percent of likely voters think that the country is “on the wrong track”; a CNN-ORC International poll that came out the same day says 68 percent are...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/840962THREE YEARS ago, more than 70,000 women obtained abortions in Texas, most of them performed at the 46 legal clinics scattered around the state. Mishaps were exceedingly rare, and there was no evidence of any systematic lapse or abuse that endangered the health of women who sought the procedure....https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/840093If you thought that two disastrous wars in the Middle East spread over 13 miserable years might cure Washington of its delusion that the next war will solve all our problems, you were wrong. The truth is that the people in power and contending for power have learned nothing. And guess what: two...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/840037SINCE THE Supreme Court struck down the worst parts of the Defense of Marriage Act in United States v. Windsor last year, lower courts have been using the logic of the ruling to sweep away state bans on same-sex marriage. On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to second-guess the appeals courts...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/839963IN THE MIDDLE of a disease outbreak, panic and fear can themselves be a destructive force. When the Ebola virus first broke out in West Africa, governments dropped the ball and were unable to contain the dread, leading people to take action — such as evading quarantine — that spread the...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/839858THE INK on Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.’s resignation letter was hardly dry before members of Congress started bickering about his replacement. Lobbing overwrought criticism at Mr. Holder’s record, Republicans demanded that the country’s next top law enforcement officer eschew ideology and...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/839741AN INTRUDER makes his way deep inside the heavily guarded White House. In an earlier incident, shots from a high-powered rifle strike the president’s residence but are overlooked until a cleaning lady discovers the bullets days later. That such seemingly far-fetched scenarios weren’t lifted from...https://www.blogit.com/Blogs/Blog.aspx/davideskin/692115President Obama’s first brush with the National Geospatial -Intelligence Agency was ignominious. Out for lunch in May 2009, at a Five Guys burger franchise in Washington, the new president started to shake the hands of other customers, TV cameras in tow. Then he turned to men with government ID...