America has long raised political and cultural cognitive dissonance to an art form. We are capable of living with enormous inequality and injustice while convincing ourselves that we are in fact moving toward what Churchill called the "broad, sun-lit uplands."
Jon MeachamAs crucial as religion has been and is to the life of the nation, America's unifying force has never been a specific faith, but a commitment to freedom - not least freedom of conscience.
Jon MeachamWe often talk too much & listen too little. The surer route to winning a friend isn't to convince them that you're right, but that you care what they think.
Jon MeachamSometimes paranoids have enemies, and conspiracies are only laughable when they fail to materialize.
Jon Meacham