I don't know about you, but I lie awake nights worrying about Canadian uranium. I know these people. I grew up there. You have no idea what they're capable of doing. If Sidney Crosby hadn't scored that goal to win the Olympic gold medal, there's no telling what might have ensued.

I envy people who write easily. I enjoy the process, but it's not easeful for me.

I think if you're going to master policy, especially world affairs, you've got to know history.

The conservative idea is not that government has no role. You might have argued that in the thirties when conservatives opposed the New Deal.

In the Middle Ages people took potions for their ailments. In the 19th century they took snake oil. Citizens of today's shiny, technological age are too modern for that. They take antioxidants and extract of cactus instead.

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

When a party is in opposition, it opposes. That's its job. But when it comes to power, it must govern. Easy rhetoric is over, the press of reality becomes irresistible. By necessity, it adopts some of the policies it had once denounced. And a new national consensus is born.