It’s a sad day when you have members of Congress who are literally criminals go undisciplined by their colleagues. No wonder people look at Washington and know this city is broken.

This Veterans Day, my mind returns again and again to a flight I took home from Baghdad in August -- and an unforgettable reminder of the obligation we have to all who serve the country we love. As we boarded the C-130, I looked into the cargo hold and saw a simple, aluminum coffin with a small American flag draped over it. We were bringing another American soldier home to his family and final resting place.

But in an American election, there are no losers, because whether or not our candidates are successful, the next morning we all wake up as Americans. And that -- that is the greatest privilege and the most remarkable good fortune that can come to us on earth.

The country and the Congress were misled into war.

We need to guarantee equal rights and civil rights and say that, here in America, workers have the right to organize - women have the right to choose - and justice belongs to everyone regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation.

Every reform needs examples more than advocates