January 21, 2009

"The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers it can bribe the public with the public's money."
- Alexis de Toqueville (1805 - 1859)

September 29, 2008

"The world still offers abundant challenges to our security and our ideals. But it is a world far more hospitable to our founding convictions than it was when America began to lead it. At the end of the cold war, Americans took time to congratulate ourselves for leading the world through a dangerous time. But we had yet to remember that we had a duty to move on and begin building a better one."
- John McCain, "Worth the Fighting For" (p 296)

September 16, 2008

"If only the poor and disadvantaged are expected to fight for us, then the country should belong to them and no one else. The rest of us should meekly live off their goodwill and charity, for they are the ones who have loved our country the most and are most deserving of her blessings."
- John McCain, "Worth the Fighting For" (p 12)

March 4th, 2008

"Refugees reveal the strengths and flaws of America. To be fair, we are the country that takes people in. We educate refugees and allow them to become citizens. And yet, when they arrive, we often exploit them and make them suffer needlessly. And, for the most part, we Americans are abysmally ignorant about the rest of the world. We have both an immense innocence and an enormous sense of entitlement. We are spoiled children in a world of hurting people, and we take far too much for granted."
- Mary Pipher, "The Middle of Everywhere: Helping Refugees Enter the American Community" (p 21)