Individual faults and frailties are no excuse to give in - and no exemption from the common obligation to give of ourselves.

Separation of church and state cannot mean an absolute separation between moral principles and political power.

The stark and tragic images of human suffering in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina have reminded us yet again that civil rights and equal rights are still the great unfinished business of America. The suffering has been disproportionately borne by the weak, the poor, the elderly and infirm, and largely African-Americans, who were forced by poverty, illness, unequal opportunity to stay behind and bear the brunt of the storm's winds and floods. I believe that kind of disparate impact is morally wrong in this, the richest country in the world.

As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated, even a state of war is not a blank check for a president to do whatever he wants.

ur struggle is not with some monarch named George who inherited the crown - although it often seems that way.

We have to respect that any nominee to the Supreme Court would have to defer any comments on any matters which are either before the court or very likely to be before the court.

Integrity is the lifeblood of democracy. Deceit is a poison in its veins.