I think, over the last couple of years, the written word has made a comeback on the Internet. For example, I'm seeing more long-form narrative experiments there. The overall noise level, however, continues to increase. Do we really need TV screens to watch when we pump gas? Really?

Ronald Reagan was a dim hack who did horrible damage to almost everything he touched.

The perfect lover is one who turns into a pizza at 4:00 A.M.

In order to get big things done, sometimes, presidents have to be deft at moving the pea around under the shells.

Optimism....is neither weak nor naive. It can be tough and pure and earned just as clearly as any brooding existential despair.

It is the doctrine of the oligarchy that there is nothing that we hold in common, that the commonwealth is a myth, that it is even a sign of softheadedness and weakness. The oligarchical power feeds on the sense that we are all individuals, struggling on our own, and ennobled by the effort.

According to the people who dearly would love to throw him out of office, Barack Obama was elected to be 'above politics.' He wasn't elected to be president, after all. He was elected as an avatar of American tolerance. His attempts to get himself reelected imply a certain, well, ingratitude.