The 'FISA Amendments Act' would gut the oversight system established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which subjected domestic spying to review by a special intelligence court.

Republicans believe an obstructionist, do-nothing Congress will deny Obama momentum and keep their base energized.

Political operatives don't tend to be existentialists. They do know, however, that if a supporter doesn't vote, then his or her opinion does not make a sound - or a difference.

That's the problem with precedents. Even the extreme ones tend to get repeated.

It's never a good sign when extremism becomes the norm.

Thieves don't usually make good therapists.

I get up with an old-school alarm clock.

I started freelancing, writing op-eds and book reviews, one at a time. I then got the opportunity to write recurring freelance pieces for 'The Nation' magazine, focusing on how the Internet was changing politics.

One of the great things about 'The Cycle' is that we have a wide set of topics - news, culture, music, and sports - and every week, we have several authors of new books on, which often injects literature, history, technology, business, and science into our show as well.

TV is still a 'push' medium - we are broadcasting into any home or business with basic cable, and depending on what's happening in the world, we have a wider audience, from news junkies to very sporadic viewers. On TV, you want your reporting to be valuable to that entire audience and be relevant.

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.

'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.

Hypocrites are more enraging than extremists, as every campaign operative knows.

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.

'House of Cards' is aiming for truth, not accuracy.

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.

Being an independent reporter with legal knowledge fits me better than being an attorney who is representing one side or one goal.

The press is always more comfortable with factual determinations than moral ones, although in day-to-day life, a lot of people care a heck of a lot more about morality than every precise actual fact.

There are a lot of things that people learn and live through culture first, and politics comes afterward.

It always rankled me - in law school and the legal profession - when lawyers would speak to each other in their own exclusive language.

Law and politics are often overly complicated because there are people that don't want the rest of us to know what's going on.

My job is to be accurate and clear.

I got some experience appearing as a guest on several news channels, and I thought over the years I would be able to mix practicing law and writing with providing analysis on TV. I didn't know that would lead to a full-time opportunity that would take me away from my law practice. When MSNBC made me an offer to join, I jumped at it.

A precedent provides legal authority for an action precisely because it occurred before.