When we were attacked on Sept. 11, we knew the main reason for the attack was that Islamists hated our way of life, our virtues, our freedoms. What we never imagined was that the free press - an institution at the heart of those virtues and freedoms - would be among the first to surrender.

Our common language is English. And our common task is to ensure that our non-English-speaking children learn this common language.

The new source of divisiveness is the assault of secularism on religion.

In the battle for preserving sound social and moral norms, many religious institutions can no longer be counted as allies.

Our schools should get five years to get back to where they were in 1963. If they're still bad maybe we should declare educational bankruptcy, give the people their money and let them educate themselves and start their own schools

Home is a shelter from storms - all sorts of storms.

Loving your homeland is just as natural as loving your father or mother - after all, your country nourishes you, protects you, and in many ways makes you who you are. Just as it's a virtue to honor your parents, it's a good and admirable thing to honor the land you call home.