By Lanny Davis – 04/09/14 By the turn of the 21st century, it was clear that a new approach to the use of American power to protect our national interests and values was necessary. At the risk of some over-simplification, by the end of former President George W. Bush’s second term, essentially two lines of […]
by Lanny Davis – 04/03/2014 I have been writing this column called “Purple Nation” since the summer of 2008. My purpose was to write about issues and politics that focused on facts, not ideology, and that offered opportunities for mixed “Red State – Blue State,” or “Purple,” analysis and solutions. I’ve written hundreds of columns […]
By Lanny Davis – 03/12/14 The Washington Post’s five-column headline on Tuesday was: “Prosecutors: Vincent Gray Knew.” Note that the word “allege” is not in the headline. The top federal prosecutor, D.C. U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr., is quoted at a press conference as asserting the fact — before trial — that District of […]
By Lanny Davis – 02/26/14 Mike McCurry, who served as press secretary to former President Clinton, was featured in a news profile over the weekend, about him becoming a teacher in religion and politics at Wesley Theological Seminary in Northwest Washington as he earns his degree there. Some people might have been surprised by this […]
By Lanny Davis – 02/12/14 06:12 PM EST “It was once said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the […]
By Lanny Davis – 02/05/14 It seems the pundits and polls in our town and on cable TV looking to fill the time can’t get over the apparently irresistible temptation to blame Hillary Clinton for … well, just about everything. Recent press reports quoted anonymous Democrats expressing concerns that Clinton is making the “same mistakes” […]
By Lanny Davis – 01/06/14 A lot of people credit Al From and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) with making a significant contribution to saving the Democratic Party from virtual political extinction at the end of the 1980s — at least in competing for the presidency. From reminds us in his recently published memoir, The […]
By Lanny Davis – 12/04/13 Almost 20 years ago, in September 1995, America’s first lady, Hillary Rodham Clinton, took the podium at the fourth annual United Nations Women’s Conference in Beijing. A prominent Chinese pro-democracy dissident had been arrested. Many in the U.S. government and broader diplomatic community opposed the first lady going to China […]
By Lanny Davis – 11/20/13 The first argument used against the legislation was ideological. Conservative opponents called it socialistic because it allowed government to force individual Americans to take money from their own funds to pay for the benefits of other Americans who are less well off and can’t afford to pay themselves. This violates […]
By Lanny Davis – 11/13/13 As a supporter of the Affordable Care Act, also known as “ObamaCare,” I want the problems to be fixed and for the program to succeed. After all, we are the only Western democracy that does not provide some form of national health insurance or guaranteed access to healthcare to all […]