Politics is a profession, and a form of service, and it should draw people who are passionate and have deep experience of the complex, changing nature of the world.

The story of Taliban recovery and resurgence begins in the places where they took refuge after 2001. And as long as those leadership structures and training structures operate outside of Afghanistan with relative impunity, the conflict will continue.

People follow those who act like leaders, not those who proclaim themselves to be leaders.

It's never too late to try to end a conflict.

As Believers, we shine brightest in a sad and dark world; like a diamond that illuminates best when placed on black velvet.

The marginal tax rate for high income earners is going up. Small businesses are no longer enjoying some of the exemption from payroll tax. Now there will be carbon taxes.

In 2007 and 2008, it was impossible to get American and British policy makers, or Pakistani politicians, to acknowledge that the Taliban leadership was in Pakistan. This is the great virtue of the early statements of the Obama administration, when Obama himself, Richard Holbrooke and others, said that the threat to both countries comes principally from western Pakistan, in Balujistan and Waziristan. So there has been some progress, but probably the hardest part is yet to come.