It's almost a shock to me to go into places, and there's smoking these days. Boy, my life has changed, because everybody used to smoke.

Frederick Douglass had to teach himself how to read before standing up to defeat slavery.

I pointed out that the Atlanta Olympic bomber - as well as Timothy McVeigh and the people who protest against gay rights at military funerals - are Christians but we journalists don't identify them by their religion.

I support gun control. But speaking honestly about the combustible mix of race and guns may be more important to stopping the slaughter in minority communities than any new gun-control laws.

Gun-related violence and murders are concentrated among blacks and Latinos in big cities.

Teddy Kennedy rose to become a liberal lion by collaborating with Republicans.

The teachers' unions that block school reform have done serious damage to the union brand. The public no longer views unions as their friend, much less their champion. They view them as corrupt, intransigent and more interested in protecting their political clout within the Democratic Party than protecting their members or even school children.