There comes a time when deceit and defiance must be seen for what they are. At that point, a gathering danger must be directly confronted. At that point, we must show that beyond our resolutions is actual resolve.

Remember, success for a politician is 50% plus one. You don't have to have everybody on board.

I did my 40 years in Washington, 40-plus, and it's time to pause and reflect and think about what I've seen and done.

I'm more concerned with bad guys who got out and released than I am with a few that in fact were innocent.

I'm up in the Senate most Tuesdays when they're in session.

I got to be White House chief of staff, ten years of congressman, secretary of defense, vice-president. If you're a political junkie like I obviously am - that was - every one of those was just a tremendous experience. I'm very comfortable with what I did and why I did it and how I did it. And I'll let others judge whether they liked it or not.

I do not believe the President requires any additional authorization from the Congress before committing US forces to achieve our objectives in the Gulf.