A precedent provides legal authority for an action precisely because it occurred before.
Ari Melber
A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers.
Like any good lawyer, I'm going to maintain a confidentiality of advice offered in confidence.
I would love to get Chief Justice John Roberts for an interview. I think that would be fascinating, I think that Supreme Court nominees should do more interviews.
Only in Washington can the pursuit of a conservative agenda, with centrist policies, be depicted as liberal reform.
The Bush administration opened several lines of attack against the rule of law and the integrity of an independent Justice Department. The scandals are so famous that they've been reduced to shorthand: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, NSA, Attorneygate.
The first rule of hip-hop is probably keep it real. And that can mean a lot of different things, but that's certainly important in reporting and storytelling.
When a government forcibly holds enough people indefinitely without trial, it evokes the kinds of raids, detention, and abuses of power associated with authoritarian states - or darker periods in American history.
'House of Cards' is full of hypocrites, some ashamed, many proud. There is no silver lining here, no appeal to a just system that is temporarily thwarted by corrupting forces.
Washington is deeply frustrating because so many of the positions that politicians hold are a product of ephemeral self-interest. They reverse themselves, for themselves, all the time.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid likes to reminisce about being an amateur boxer. But his Senate tenure has often looked like an endless rope-a-dope.
From the Fourth Amendment to post-Watergate reforms to the national outcry when Bush's warrantless surveillance was revealed in 2005, the United States has a strong tradition of overseeing the government's power to spy on its citizens.
My job is to be accurate and clear.
Only a few bloggers have the audience and credibility to effectively break stories, pressure the traditional media, incubate new ideas, or raise real money. These influential bloggers are usually sharp, opinionated, and focused on the world 'offline.' They refuse to view events through the solipsistic blinders of their own websites.
Of course, no one doubts McCain's personal tenacity, from braving torture to overcoming cancer. Yet plenty of nonpartisan observers doubt his credibility.
Rick Ross has good beats, if some more questionable content.
Confronting Republicans can definitely mobilize a disaffected Democratic base.
Tea Party adherents are actually more religion-driven and more anti-abortion than the party they are supposedly upending.
Progressive bloggers should not only write on behalf of the members of America's underclass but also empower them to join the discussion.
News may not be very profitable anymore, but it sure is popular.
The Tea Party movement's economic agenda is a matter of emphasis, not exclusion. This is not a single-issue group.
As every newspaper reader, liberal activist, or parliamentary junkie knows, the overarching barrier to most of Obama's agenda is the abuse of the filibuster in the Senate. In fact, several of Obama's second term priorities are not ideas in search of a majority - they are majorities in search of an up-or-down vote.
Hypocrites are more enraging than extremists, as every campaign operative knows.
Honestly, anchoring the news on a nightly basis is the hardest job I've ever taken on.
The Obama campaign has adeptly used YouTube and social networks as a relatively thrifty way to do targeted messaging.
I get up with an old-school alarm clock.
In American politics, there's a recurring fantasy, nurtured by the press, about 'courageous' politicians who do the right thing against their political interest. But really, isn't it even more encouraging when the right thing has just become good politics?
I think politics is always about dialogue. I think journalism ranges from dialogue to monologue, and there are times when different poles are necessary.
President Obama does not usually accuse Republicans of being too hawkish.
In politics, your opponent can be far more important than your vision.
If you would have said, in law school, would it be more likely that I would be working on a book or on a TV show, I would have said book.
Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have interests.
The Dream Act and the DISCLOSE Act, to name two, had majorities in both chambers during Obama's first term, but they were filibustered to death. They probably await a similar fate unless the filibuster is reformed.
Politics has certainly changed a lot in an era of micro-targeting, Super PACs, and Twitter.
It always rankled me - in law school and the legal profession - when lawyers would speak to each other in their own exclusive language.
Being an independent reporter with legal knowledge fits me better than being an attorney who is representing one side or one goal.
I feel like I'm totally me, and I feel like the show reflects my intensity, my vibe, and my search for evidence and answers.
Anyone with a cursory knowledge of American history knows that unchecked spying undermines democracy and public trust.
Here is one iron law of the Internet: a social network's emphasis on monetizing its product is directly proportional to its users' loss of privacy.
If you believe in democracy, you accept, by definition, the existence and triumph of opposing ideas. The people who believe deeply in the Internet's force as a commons operate on that kind of premise.
If anything, the genuine human struggles in 'Sicko' raise questions about our society that run much deeper than what passes for political discourse today. Why does such a rich nation let people suffer and die without health care?
Iowa is especially critical for underdog and cash-strapped campaigns, because the caucus system relies on grassroots organizing, enabling candidates with time for retail politicking to beat better-funded rivals. So underdogs usually seize on the state.
My hope is to be a trusted utensil for viewers. Like, literally, 'That thing works. I can rely on that thing.'
It's hard to be a national punch line unless lots of voters have soured on you.
Large majorities of voters support taxing millionaires and protecting social security.
While 'Django Unchained' presents a morally stark universe, where people do and say evil things with no remorse, it also luxuriates in the license that such evil provides.
I think the challenge for anyone in a visible industry, whether it's media, government, or political organizing, is to take serious criticism seriously and not to live in the shadows of the noise and the concern trolls.
I remember buying The Fugees' 'The Score' my freshman year and feeling like this whole new world and this whole new conversation was opening up to me.
Even George W. Bush, who as president pushed the boundaries of executive power, never proposed a statutory scheme to hold people indefinitely.
I've worked in government. I've worked in competitive New York litigation, I've worked as a writer and reporte..
