For me, a really radical position for journalism to take is to stop being cynical. Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre.

I've been described as a grizzled political veteran.

Affirmative action was always racial justice on the cheap.

I believe that poverty is often the result of inappropriate behavior - out-of-wedlock births, dropping out of school, crime and drugs - which should not be rewarded. But often it isn't, and common decency requires that we take care of the least of these.

I'm in favour of politicians having extra-marital relationships. Oh yeah. It makes them more understanding of the flaws that the rest of us have.

Dictating to dictators doesn't work; they are congenitally delusional about their own indispensability.

I came to political consciousness with John F. Kennedy's magnificent 1961 Inaugural Address. It seemed the start of something fresh and exciting, and it was.