Liberal Bill Scher and conservative Matt Lewis meet in the rancor-free DMZ to hash out the week’s political events.
On The DMZ: Matt sees nothing but nepotism in Liz Cheney’s Wyoming Senate run. What ever happened to respecting your political elders? Bill heralds the filibuster deal as proof that John McCain has become Obama’s new BFF. Can conservatives adapt to the political bias towards action? Bill explains why he won’t read This Town, Mark Leibovich’s exposé of DC culture. Has Obama broken his promise to change the way Washington works? Plus: Why Matt identifies more with Trayvon Martin than with George Zimmerman.
On The DMZ, guest host Justin talks to Bill about the kind of conservatism he believes in. They discuss the GOP’s ongoing response to the implementation of Obamacare. Bill suggests that Republicans need to lose another election before the reform wing gets a fair hearing. They then review the wide-open 2016 presidential field and predict the fate of the immigration reform bill. Plus: Bill and Justin debate immigration.
On The DMZ: Why Republicans should shut up about Hillary’s age, and how they might run against her. Matt argues the next GOP presidential candidate has to be a rock star, and Bill argues the Democrats will survive if Hillary doesn’t run. Did Rubio blow it on immigration, or did he successfully tamp down criticism from the right? And should we be celebrating July 2nd instead of the 4th?
On The DMZ, Bill and Matt discuss the return of CNN’s Crossfire. Matt talks about the disturbing undercurrent he perceives among opponents of immigration reform. Bill interrupts to announce that the Supreme Court has struck down DOMA. Are Republican critics of immigration reform secretly racist? Has the issue already tanked Marco Rubio‘s presidential ambitions? Plus: The politics of Obama’s climate change speech.
On The DMZ, Bill and Matt discuss Bobby Jindal‘s recent op-ed encouraging Republicans to quit the introspection. Has conservatism given up on solving problems? What’s the deal with Jindal’s red meat about liberals? Turning to immigration reform, they consider why top Senate Republicans are threatening to kill their own bill. Plus: Matt asks Bill how his feelings about Ronald Reagan have evolved.
There’s a disturbance in the force of The DMZ, as the NSA leak story scrambles traditional notions of left and right. Do the last ten years of surveillance make the case that we’ve lost our freedoms or that we’ve struck the right balance? Even if Snowden is right, did he have to risk his own incarceration? Matt and Bill discuss Arnold Kling’s new e-book about why liberals, conservatives and libertarians don’t speak the same language. Have Obama’s actions as president betrayed his prior rhetoric about civil liberties?
On The DMZ, Bill and Matt tackle the big issues—like the difficulties of dressing for cable news appearances. They turn to Obama’s appointments of Susan Rice as National Security Adviser and Samantha Power as UN Ambassador, and how those picks will affect the situation in Syria. Bill calls on Chris Christie to consider his legacy when appointing a new senator from New Jersey. What is the Erick Erickson–Josh Barro feud really about? And how has Barro attracted so much attention so early in his career?
On The DMZ, Bill asks Matt about his feud with Howard Dean, which leads to a reflection on the legacy of Dean’s primary campaign 10 years ago. They compare Dean to Michele Bachmann, who is retiring from Congress. Matt wonders why it’s so hard to find a smart, charismatic conservative leader like Ronald Reagan. Turning to the Obama Administration’s scandals, Bill finds it ironic that conservatives are siding with The New York Times against the Justice Department. Plus: Should Eric Holder resign?
On The DMZ: Why the scandals are personally hard on Matt and Bill. The pair analyze the treatment of the scandals by the MSM and the left blogosphere. Matt draws attention to the race for Virginia governor. And is Bill Kristol going to kill immigration reform or is Orrin Hatch going to save it?
On The DMZ: Picking up where his wife left off, Matt makes the case that breastfeeding and farmer’s markets are innately conservative. Then The DMZ braves the scandal zone. Has the “second-term curse” caught Obama? Matt sees a president crossing ethical lines to win re-election, while Bill doesn’t see much scandal at all. Does it make political sense for the opposition party to chase scandal, or does that risk backfiring? Matt argues the stories can’t be dismissed, and Bill explains why he’s happy to have investigations. And how do these incidents compare to Watergate and the Lewinsky scandal?