Never put the story in the lead. Let 'em have a hot shot of ambiguity right between the eyes.

Of higher value than any one leader is the cause.

A dependent clause is like a dependent child: incapable of standing on its own but able to cause a lot of trouble.

Avoid overuse of 'quotation “marks.”'

The wonderful thing about being a New York Times columnist is that it's like a Supreme Court appointment - they're stuck with you for a long time.

You don't overturn a previous court's decisions lightly and I think most Americans are somewhere in the middle on abortion and there's not going to be a revolution here at all.

Last, but not least, avoid cliches like the plague.