Baseball is a habit. The slowly rising crescendo of each game, the rhythm of the long season--these are the essentials and they are remarkably unchanged over nearly a century and a half. Of how many American institutions can that be said?

It is said that God gave us memory so we could have roses in winter. But it is also true that without memory we could not have self in any season. The more memories you have, the more you have. That is why, as Swift said, No wise man ever wished to be younger.

The First Amendment...begins with the five loveliest words in the English language: 'Congress shall make no law'.

The strongest continuous thread in America's political tradition is skepticism about government.

Romney, supposedly the Republican most electable next November, is a recidivist reviser of his principles who is not only becoming less electable; he might damage GOP chances of capturing the Senate... Republicans may have found their Michael Dukakis.

Modern Americans travel light, with little philosophic baggage other than a fervent belief in their right to the pursuit of happiness.

The phrase 'domestic cat' is an oxymoron.