Let me tell you, the first president to recognize the state of Israel was Harry Truman, a Democrat. And every president since, Democrat and Republican, have stood closely with Israel.

And the banks - hard to believe in a time when we're facing a banking crisis that many of the banks created - are still the most powerful lobby on Capitol Hill. And they frankly own the place.

It simply isn't fair for senators to cut to the front of the line when seniors around the country have been forced to wait for hours to get a flu shot.

Millions of Americans take vitamins safely every day, including me. Vitamins and mineral supplements taken in recommended doses are safe. It's the designer supplements that are worrisome.

We can't do much about ensuring that the homeland is safe if our local police and sheriffs' departments don't have the personnel they need to keep our streets and neighborhoods secure.

It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.

We will have health care reform in America.

Our party is a diverse one, as is my home state of Illinois.

There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees - not in a nation founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

We have 11 million people in this country that need a pathway to citizenship.

You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.

Words are better than weapons, wisdom is better than war.

It's an unnerving thought that we may be the living universe's supreme achievement and its worst nightmare simultaneously.

When the reality looks magnificent, a real art of photography has only one choice: To capture this beauty magnificently!

When I was on 'Idol' and 17, everything was so new. Everyone is so nice and wants to see you succeed.

I think that's really the allure of acting for me. I really want to connect with people.

Joy is spiritual and far grittier than happiness, and far more robust.

I was in prison and I was an atheist. I didn't believe in anything.

It is neither Art for Art, nor Art against Art. I am for Art, but for Art that has nothing to do with Art. Art has everything to do with life, but it has nothing to do with Art.

The thing is that I'm an actor first, and in 'Once,' I was able to be a musician and a singer as well as an actor.