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On an example of how Reagan and O'Neill would "fight like brothers" but find ways to work it out

[They were at a summit] about a deficit problem which was arising the year after Reagan took office and got his big tax cuts through, and his defense increase ... and the deficits were far beyond what they expected or what they could defend, and they needed Democrats to sign on to some kind of change in Social Security.

... I discovered outside the meeting [that] staffers for the president were passing the word that the Democrats were the ones who were ... urging a cut on Social Security benefits. And I told [O'Neill] ... and said to the president, 'Are you calling for a cut in Social Security or not?' And Reagan said, 'No, I'm not doing it, it's you guys that are doing it.' And the speaker said, 'No, I'm not doing it.'

So they got nowhere in that meeting but there was good chemistry there ... these guys were working together. And before the end of the year, before the big midterm election of '82, the speaker backed the president in raising taxes to make up for the excessive deficits from the year before, and he went on the floor of the House and told the Republican members, 'You're here because of Reagan, you owe him your loyalty,' and Reagan said in his diary that day [that] it was very strange to have Tip on his side on this issue. So this is the pattern: they would fight like brothers, and then they would deal.

On the ways that Reagan was willing to compromise

He was far more of a political figure than we think of. We think of him as a philosopher and the leader of ... the conservative moment. ... He wanted Social Security to be voluntary, he didn't like Medicare, he campaigned against it ... those are all in the history books, on the record. And yet ... when he was governor of California, he signed a pro-choice bill.

... He would compromise. He would compromise on making Social Security the strong program that it is today. He didn't just vote to keep it alive, he voted to keep it strong and keep the revenue flowing into it so there'd be enough money to pay for the retirees benefits. He really did make a decision there. And I got to tell you, I think the difference between him and a true purist is that he would always say, 'I'll fight as hard as I can and then I'll make the best deal I can.' And he did that on spending, on taxing, on defense.

On his own interviewing style

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The author is a Syrian citizen living in Damascus who is not being further identified for safety reasons.

The young men of Syria account for many of those fighting on both sides of the country's civil war. Yet those on the sidelines of the conflict are facing heavy burdens of their own.

All over Syria, many young men, and particularly those from rebellious towns, spend their days holed up at home to avoid running into trouble with the Syrian authorities.

Some want to avoid compulsory military service required of most young men. Others live in areas where the rebels are active, and therefore are suspected of being rebel fighters or at least sympathizers.

In parts of the Arab world, particularly in conservative, traditional communities, the streets are full of men while women are relatively scarce. But in parts of Syria, this dynamic has been reversed.

In the embattled province of Homs, displaced families have taken shelter anywhere they can in the city. But with government checkpoints all around them, many men stay indoors while the women go out to run errands and buy food.

The same holds true in other areas where the government still has a strong presence, including the capital Damascus and all along Syria's Mediterranean coast.

Once Detained, Now A Recluse

Abdulrahman is a young man in the capital who only leaves his house on the days when the government authorities do not setup a checkpoint at the end of his street. Otherwise, he runs the risk of being harassed, detained and imprisoned, something he says he already experienced.

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Parallels

The Deadly Checkpoint That Divides Syria's Biggest City

Both of the Hillary Clinton biopics that drew protests from the Republican National Committee have now been canceled before even being made.

As we reported in August, the RNC had "unanimously passed a resolution preventing the committee from partnering with CNN and NBC for debates if they don't drop their Hillary Clinton productions ahead of the 2016 presidential election."

The GOP accused the networks of showing "clear favoritism."

CNN was planning a documentary. NBC was planning to give the former first lady, former secretary of state and potential 2016 Democratic presidential contender a historical-fiction treatment in a mini-series. The networks said in August that the RNC's objections were unwarranted.

But now, documentary filmmaker Charles Ferguson writes at The Huffington Post that he's pulling the plug on the CNN production because:

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports that:

"NBC, in a statement, said it canceled its mini-series 'after reviewing and prioritizing our slate of movie/mini-series development.' Several NBC executives denied there had been any pressure from the Clinton side that affected the decision. Nor was the unhappiness of members of NBC's News division a critical factor, they said.

"One senior NBC executive said that NBC did not specifically bow to pressure from either the Republican National Committee or the Clinton camp. But the executive acknowledged that the Clinton project had already generated so much criticism that it was deemed not worth pursuing because it would only invite more as it went into production. The NBC executives would not speak for attribution because the network was limiting comment to its official statement."

John Boehner might not have the worst job in politics, but not many people envy the House speaker these days.

The GOP rank and file won't listen to him, grass-roots conservatives don't trust him, and Democrats say he can't deliver votes.

For a man who occupies the most powerful position in the House, Boehner's inability — or, possibly, his unwillingness — to persuade his fellow House Republicans to accept a budget without delaying or blocking parts of the Affordable Care Act has resulted in the first government shutdown since 1996.

"He's a man who is in place at the wrong time," says James Thurber, a longtime observer of Congress at American University. "He has a caucus he can't control."

Boehner is in a position that might not work out too well for anyone. With a 32-seat majority at the moment, he has few votes to lose and not enough members of his own majority that he can count on. Making any deals with Democrats at this point puts his own job at risk.

"Clearly, Boehner has one of the most difficult jobs in Washington, trying to lead what is a borderline ungovernable caucus," says Chris Krueger, a former House GOP aide and now a policy analyst with Guggenheim Securities.

No Way To Negotiate

President Obama over the past couple of years has complained that Boehner can't deliver the votes on any deal they might strike. For his part, Boehner has said the president has changed the outline of deals as they've gone along and refuses now to meet one-on-one with Obama.

Within his own institution, Boehner hasn't always been able to push through packages he seemed to want. Last week, he floated a plan to wed spending cuts and regulatory changes to an increase in the government's authority to take on more debt. It went nowhere with his conference.

This was reminiscent of Boehner's failed attempt last December to put forward a budgetary "Plan B," which had to be shelved after he couldn't persuade enough House Republicans to support it.

Boehner has, on three occasions, allowed significant legislation to pass largely with the support of Democrats. But advancing bills that lack support from a majority of his GOP colleagues isn't something he can do very often.

Part of the problem is the unrest within the GOP conference: A dozen Republicans voted against his second term as speaker in January. Conservatives haven't grown much happier with his leadership. And they've been prodded to resist Boehner's compromises by forces outside the chamber, such as Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

"A guy has to worry more about his Twitter universe and niche followers than [about the] the leaders of the House," says Terry Holt, a former Boehner aide, referring to the relative lack of leverage that House leadership has these days over individual members, compared with outside forces who threaten to mount challenges to their re-election bids.

Long Climb To The Top

None of this could have been what Boehner wanted when he finally reached the top spot after 20 years in the House.

Boehner himself was a rebel in his first term in Congress, part of the "Gang of Seven" freshman Republicans who prodded the institution to face up to the abuses of a banking scandal.

In 1994, he was part of the team that helped win the GOP its first House majority in 40 years and was rewarded with the fourth most powerful slot in the leadership.

He lost it four years later, after Republicans lost seats in the 1998 midterm elections. Rather than fade away, however, Boehner took over the chairmanship of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, helping craft laws covering pensions and school vouchers and working with Democratic Senate lion Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts to pass the landmark education law known as No Child Left Behind.

"He's a serious legislator and these Band-Aid solutions can't be what he wanted his speakership to be about," Krueger says.

Leadership Frustrations

Typically, leaders who work out deals gain strength from them. Each win creates momentum going into the next fight.

In Boehner's case, every major bill that has passed into law with President Obama's signature has been seen as a setback that makes his troops more eager to dig their trenches deeper next time.

The fact that the budget process itself has come undone makes Boehner's job harder. Speakers in the past could help recalcitrant members see the light by promising goodies for their constituents. Just about all of them could use a new bridge for their district, or an expansion of the local VA hospital.

But with earmarks, or even the entire idea of appropriations bills setting new priorities each year, seemingly a thing of the past, the speaker has lost that kind of leverage.

"That process is either nonfunctioning or dysfunctional, so it limits the power leaders have," says Holt, a media strategist with HDMK, a communications and lobbying consulting firm.

Posing Problems For Anyone

Thurber, who directs the Center for Congressional & Presidential Studies at American University, wonders whether Boehner isn't just about ready to pack it in.

"I think he sort of hopes to limp to the end [of his term] and then not run for Congress anymore," Thurber says. "It would be embarrassing to be there and be thrown out of the speakership."

Despite rumors that he will step down after the 2014 elections, Boehner is no quitter, Holt says. He recalls that after Boehner lost his leadership position back in 1998, the Ohio Republican sought to buck up his mopey staff.

"John stood up and said, 'Shhhh, listen people: No matter how you feel today, this is not the end,' " Holt says. "We believed him, and you can never count him out."

Boehner opened a news conference last Thursday by saying, "Oh, this ought to be a blast." But in general, if Boehner is frustrated, he's wearing that emotion lightly. He's continuing to issue statements and press releases placing the blame for the impending shutdown on Obama and Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada.

Boehner has learned, Holt suggests, that politics and governance is a game without end. The speaker may indeed be resilient enough to get through the present crisis. But the job's not likely to get any easier.

"If the next speaker is a Democrat, they're going to have the same problems," Holt says.