Passing a law like the assault weapons ban is a symbolic - purely symbolic - move in that direction. Its only real justification is not to reduce crime but to desensitize the public to the regulation of weapons in preparation for their ultimate confiscation.

If you believe that health care is a public good to be guaranteed by the state, then a single-payer system is the next best alternative. Unfortunately, it is fiscally unsustainable without rationing.

Washington is the only place in the world where a gaffe is when a politician accidently speaks the truth.

We must now brace ourselves for disquisitions on peer pressure, adolescent anomie, and rage.

I believe in what I believe, and I think after all these years I've heard a lot of arguments, and I'm convinced by the superiority of the arguments that are made on the conservative side. I think that's a better way to run a society.

I would say I see myself as a psychiatrist in remission.

I'm a former Red Sox fan, now fully rehabilitated.