Michael Lopp:

When it comes to state, finite is the absolute best kind of state out there.

When I'm either in the discomfort of a new job or mired in the boredom that permeates an old one, I remind myself of returning from vacation. I remember how much my brain likes it when I've shut down the state machine and see a familiar world as new. I remember there is always more to learn because the state is infinite.

Mark Leibovich:

Kurt Bardella's BlackBerry trance was broken by Karin Tanabe, a reporter then working for Politico who came over to introduce herself. Bardella's swoon was rather egregious. I listened as he told Tanabe that he "worked in oversight," which sounded like a surefire Washington pickup line to me ("Is that a subpoena in your pocket?") until Tanabe killed the mood by saying, "Oh, my boyfriend works in oversight," and the discussion ended soon after.

Jennifer Boatright on civil forfeiture in Texas:

Where are we? Is this some kind of foreign country, where they're selling people's kids off?

Have you looked it up? It'll blow your mind.

From the archive:

If you think "Russia" when you hear "oligarchy", think again.

Cory Booker's father:

Don't walk around here thinking you hit a triple when you were born on third base. You drink from a well you did not dig. There is still work to be done. Don't sit back and think democracy is a spectator sport.

Decius:

It's important to understand that it isn't Congress that must change -- it is us.