The American Revolution and Declaration of Independence, it has often been argued, were fueled by the most radical of all American political ideas.

The lowest form of popular culture - lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people's lives - has overrun real journalism.

There's something totally crazy about this.

I think all good reporting is the same thing - the best attainable version of the truth.

The failures of the press have contributed immensely to the emergence of a talk-show nation, in which public discourse is reduced to ranting and raving and posturing. We now have a mainstream press whose news agenda is increasingly influenced by this netherworld.

Even at the end of a presidential election campaign, we have no way to know what Mitt Romney really believes.

John Paul was the first modern pope to grow up in a secular culture: He attended public schools, danced with girls - indeed, as a teenager he had a crush on a beautiful Jewish girl who fled his hometown just ahead of the arrival of the Germans.