Government never falls lower than when decent people dutifully excuse their leaders' sins.

We've got to rebuild human hearts - and persuade people that hope isn't just possible, but essential.

Yet, it ought to be obvious that good music generally occupies a higher plane that mere politics. Great writers can express moods through melody and capture experiences we share most powerfully - love, lust, longing; joy, rage, fear; triumph, yearning and confusion.

It serves notice that President Bush is serious about promoting freedom, because free societies are a lot more peaceable than dictatorships and monarchies.

Every one of our greatest national treasures, our liberty, enterprise, vitality, wealth, military power, global authority, flow from a surprising source: our ability to give thanks.

The real sin with Social Security is that it's a long-term rip-off and a short-term scam.

If you think Independence Day is America's defining holiday, think again. Thanksgiving deserves that title, hands-down.