Keith C. Burris: Two tribes block the way

Barack Obama used to have a slogan when he was running for president the first time: "Forward.". It's a good motto — in politics, public policy and in life. Knowing that few problems have ultimate solutions, only proximate ones, the goal of our government, and therefore our political parties, ought to be forward progress, or, as Mr. Obama also used to say, "better is still better."