But principles defended at the expense of pragmatic application is the business of priests.

I've never been a fan of presidents who place blame on their predecessors or who accept credit for events that couldn't have been engineered so soon in their tenure.

Pending catastrophe is not an easy notion to entertain, much less sustain. Americans, moreover, have a low tolerance for doom and gloom. We are the nation of optimism, after all. We elect leaders who promise hope and change. We are the shining city on a hill. But what happens when the lights go out?

It's impossible to expect polite behavior from people who've never witnessed it.

Great nations don't have to remind others of their greatness. They merely have to be great.

If you don't like tomato soup, you don't buy tomato soup.

People in positions of power and privilege have a duty to perform at a higher level. If not them, then who?