The only reason the House hasn't done even more damage is that the Senate often sands down the most noxious ideas, making the bills merely bad, not disastrous.

Obama was willing to compromise and Republicans were not. That's not a biased statement. One of my problems with the limitations of journalism is that straightforward descriptions of reality are seen as being biased.

They say that 'history is an argument without end.' In Thompson's skillful hands, this momentous argument between two old friends on the most critical issue of the last century is thus history at its best. Thompson's judicious and delicious depiction of Nitze and Kennan will fascinate anyone who cares about the Cold War or the ways that human beings shape the future.

The only thing worse than a silly politician analyzing art is a silly artist analyzing politics

The price of loyalty is incompetence.

The key to fixing education is better teaching, and the key to better teaching is figuring out who can teach and who can't.

I think it's a terrible system, but money in politics is like water running downhill -- it finds its way.