Just how secure are we? And are we focusing our protection in the right places?

Republicans seem to be adopting the self-immolation tactics of principled martyrs.

The conventional wisdom evolves. Yesterday, Washington was merely broken, gridlocked, dysfunctional. The passive voice spread the blame evenly. Today, it’s agreed that Republican obstructionism is the root of all evil — GOP resistance having now escalated to nihilism and indeed sabotage.

Today is Bastille Day, one of my favorite holidays. The Fete Nationale of France, the holiday commemorates the storming of the prison by dissidents, a landmark event of the French Revolution. The Bastille was regarded as a symbol of King Louis XVI’s absolute power, and a few weeks later, a document establishing the rights of French citizens was issued.

A recent letter to the editor described me as a Luddite, and of all the things I get called by liberals (fondly, I’m certain), that one left me bemused.

Immigration reform has more traction with Republican voters than you’d imagine from listening to some talk show hosts and bloggers. A poll out Wednesday shows the gap between the noisemakers and voters on the right.

If, as many activists maintain, the struggle for gay rights is just the latest phase of the civil rights movement, then the Supreme Court’s decision in United States v. Windsor, striking down the federal Defense of Marriage Act, may be this generation’s Brown v. Board of Education.