The values, the programs, the formula, the determination, and the patriotism responsible for America's past success are still here to be tapped.

After all, the past is our only real guide to the future, and historical analogies are instruments for distilling and organizing the past and converting it to a map by which we can navigate.

Football is controlled violence, but it is violence, which people have loved to watch since the gladiatorial contests in ancient Rome.

The values, the programs, the formula, the determination, and the patriotism responsible for America's past success are still here to be tapped.

Certainly, protecting oppressed people, stopping ethnic conflict and promoting responsible governance are worthy goals. But none is as important for American security and prosperity as keeping the peace in the Middle East, Europe and East Asia.

In my experience, it's not just that serious books get a hearing on comedy shows. But serious books get a serious hearing, as well as a funny one, on comedy shows.

If architecture is, as is sometimes said, music set in concrete, then football and basketball may be said to be creativity embodied in team sports.