It is an axiom of political life that you never raise expectations, whether in a political or military campaign, because your defeats are then magnified and your victories discounted.

Where there is a confluence of interests among nations, as, for example the swine flu or polio, you can get well functioning international institutions like the World Health Organization. And you can act. Climate change is different, because the science remains hypothetical and the potential costs staggering.

Loyalty to the President is great, but loyalty to truth, integrity, and country is even better.

Obama is a man of first-class intellect and first-class temperament. But his character remains highly suspect.

Science has everything to say about what is possible. Science has nothing to say about what is permissible.

It is an old liberal theme that conservative ideas, being red in tooth and claw, cannot possibly emerge from any notion of the public good.

Great leaders are willing to retire unloved and unpopular as the price for great exertion.