Just listen to these two clips back to back; the first is the ending section of Obama's speech last night, and the second is Rachel Maddow interviewing Barney Frank about the speech and events surrounding it.

How long has it been in this country since we were able...

First, let's get the preliminaries cleared out of the way. A week ago, Sarah Palin was never going to be president of the United States. Today, Sarah Palin is never going to be president of the United States. Once you've accepted that fact (although it's not clear that Palin herself...

An old saying in politics goes that if there's a proposition that everyone agrees to, there must be something wrong with it. We usually think that courts are different, but the Supreme Court's recent ruling the in crucial NAMUDNO voting rights case may be the exception that proves the rule.

Obvious Truth #1: Let's say there's this terrorist, and he has plans to blow up a major US landmark, killing lots of people (maybe even your son or daughter!). I'm walking past his house, ten minutes before the bomb is set to go off, and I see the folder with...

Just a quick word on Specter's dropping out of the Republican party to avoid a primary challenge that he might well lose. The Republicans have been playing up this angle of the story, not only to emphasize Specter's narrow political motives for the switch as opposed to broad disagreement with...

The Republicans seem to have a hard time reading the room on the torture issue, so I'll try to make this really simple. Democratic society requires an open government - those in power tell the public what they're doing, and voters see what they do, evaluate the results, and return...

Senate Democrats have only one smart way to react Rod Blagojevich's impending appointment of Roland Burris to Obama's Senate seat: declare victory and go home.

Look at the plus side: by reacting strongly against Blagojevich's corrupt attempt to sell the seat, they stood up for political ethics, even against a...

As the country struggles with the fallout from a series of financial meltdowns, a new, healthy debate is emerging around the interplay of markets, government, and the security of our financial system. But this discussion has been hindered by the assumption that we must choose between "more" or "less" regulation....

Upon assuming office, President Bush promised to maintain the budget surplus that he had inherited, except in the event of recession, war or national emergency. ''Lucky me,'' he joked to his budget director Mitch Daniels shortly after 9/11, ''I hit the trifecta.''

The Democrats have the...