This has always been the way of presidential politics. The president rises above the fray while his surrogates go on the attack. They throw the spears and fling the mud; he sits upon the throne.

Every great political campaign rewrites the rules; devising a new way to win is what gives campaigns a comparative advantage against their foes.

Conservatives must avoid the siren song of schism, or all is lost.

Comedians and impressionists used to be two different showbiz animals entirely, but now there's no such thing as a comedian who doesn't do impressions.

Pop culture is a reflection of social change, not a cause of social change.

There's no light at the end of the tunnel in the Republican message, no promise of better things to come. There's only the present stagnation, followed by a slow decline.

I was wholeheartedly attracted to the conservative atmosphere that permeated the city of Washington.

I look at 'The New York Review of Books.' It's what it has been for 35 or 40 years, which is a highly sophisticated vehicle for anti-American self-hatred.

While negativity is politically useful, it is also demoralizing unless it is accompanied - and to some extent overshadowed - by elevated and inspiring ideas about the American future.

Your race and gender don't change, but you can choose to change your political affiliation at will.

The problem is that borrowing money to pay back more borrowed money that will oblige you in the future to borrow even more money doesn't sound kosher. Because it isn't.

My nine-month journey through this room I would describe as one of trauma, rage and deceit, all topped off with a splash of human bonding.

I am responsible for my life.

Our true spirit can never become diseased or distressed.

Unlike clocks, hours have no reverse motion..

The love I have for you far exceeds all love I have given

Put your money where your mouth is.

I think, at the end of the day, the real antagonist is the brokenness of humanity.

If you really understand the meaning of be-bop, you understand the meaning of freedom.

I don't think it takes a brain surgeon to understand how to read a story.