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This morning, Matt Lewis and I were on CNN together (along with Kellyanne Conway and Errol Lewis) discussing the Republicans for Johnson-Weld effort I am involved with—as well as the presidential race, in general. I wanted to follow up on that appearance with some food for thought regarding several points made, mainly by Matt but also by others, during that segment, since the trend of Republicans (and others) taking a look at Johnson-Weld is on the uptick—as is the trend of...

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Today, we wished our dear ginger kitty, Moira, our last goodbye. Recently diagnosed with cancer, it was unlikely that with or without our intervention—of any sort—she would make it to the end of the week. Not wanting her to suffer any more, we went ahead and put her to sleep today.
I will miss Moira terribly. She’s the cat who used to lie on my outstretched legs as I sat on the sofa after our son had gone to bed each night and as I finished off work. She’s the cat...

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As my top five cities entry probably indicates, when I travel, much of what I prioritize is visiting historical sites, especially ancient ones.
It’s hard to narrow a large list of amazing places down to a top 5. But this represents my best effort. Here goes.
1. Angkor Wat
OK, this one was easy. There is nowhere more spectacular that I have been than Angkor.
Undoubtedly, if you travel there today, it will be much more touristy than it was when I visited in 2002....

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As someone who tries to keep costs down when traveling, to free up money for more of it (or for spending on genuine, must-have luxuries while traveling), street and fast food are things I pay some attention to.
I will admit, I am also somewhat wary of certain street food in certain countries due to hygiene and disease considerations; in some cases, I’ve had to be, because of things like potentially being pregnant (and wanting to stay pregnant, should I have been). For that reason,...

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As I do the promised travel blogging, I anticipate doing a lot of "top fives." This is partly laziness on my part, partly my thinking that this will help keep my writing semi-accessible and relevant to people. Anyway, here is the first-- my top five cities.
The top three on this list are obvious for me. The last two are less so, and in fairness, Damascus and Istanbul were also in pretty close contention. But here are some thoughts on the top five, in any event.
1. Rome...

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A long time ago, long before I ever got into politics professionally or indeed became a lawyer, I thought it would be cool to be a travel writer. For whatever reason, I never pursued it.
This has probably been to my financial benefit—my suspicion is that travel writers don’t make much, and the competition is pretty fierce. But with that being said, having undertaken a couple of trips with my infant son has got me thinking that there are some observations about the places...

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Hi there. If you're reading this, you're probably a new follower of mine on Twitter. Or maybe you're a troll. Or maybe you're someone making assumptions you really shouldn't. Below will be at least one fact relevant to the point you're trying to make or the question you've asked. Happy reading!
1. You've worked for candidates who lost elections, so why should anyone listen to your views on politics?
Not a lot of people really do listen to my views on politics, relative to people...

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In Braveheart, the dramatized (and fictionalized) Edward I opines that the problem with Scotland is that it’s full of Scots.
Ahead of tomorrow’s independence referendum, ironically this seems a good description of the nature of the challenge that faces both the “Yes” and “No” campaigns. What looks from the outside like an election where really pretty much everyone should have a formed, pre-set view with few caveats, few things that might make people...

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Political junkies across America have spent the last 24-plus hours pinching, slapping and throwing cold water at themselves in an effort to confirm that, yes, what they think happened to Majority Leader Eric Cantor, representative of Virginia's 7th congressional district (at least for a few more months!), really did happen on Tuesday night.
Some are jubilant. Some are depressed. Some find the whole situation comedic. Some observe it with a dispassionate, academic interest and feel...

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I've long been skeptical of liberal arguments that inequality in America is out of control and needs to be addressed as the or a top economic concern facing the current generation of policymakers.
My position has largely been that economic immobility, to the extent that it exists, is a greater concern.
Ultimately, pervasive, long-term economic immobility speaks to a problem with regard to fulfillment of the American Dream. The general idea behind America is that here, anyone who is...

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