This has all the appearance of a foreign power trying to undermine structures of legitimacy of an American election. That is a serious matter. If I were the media, I would be wary of using anything that came out of these document dumps which serves the purpose of a foreign power. But, at the very least, Americans have to discount this. This is an attempt to hijack and change American democracy by a foreign power. It can't be accepted.
Michael GersonThe NSA is not looking through people's address books and Visa bills and violating the rights of average citizens. That's not what the NSA does.
Michael GersonAtheists can be good people; they just have no objective way to judge the conduct of those who are not.
Michael GersonThe Republican Party has become more conservative. The Democratic Party has become marginally more liberal. There's almost no overlap in the middle, ideological overlap, in either house of Congress. That leaves moderates homeless. We have had a hollowing out of the middle in the U.S. Congress. There's less opportunity for compromise.
Michael GersonWhen your goal is to bring together the country in a substantive way to say that we're united by values and more - that are - you know, stronger than the things that divide us. That could be a moment.
Michael GersonWhen you analyze it, Mike Pence could only defend Donald Trump in some circumstances by projecting an image of himself, as though he were - that Trump held his views on Russia or his views on Syria. And that's really not true. So, it was a weird way to defend the person at the top of your ticket.
Michael Gerson