Constitutional democracy, you see, is no romantic notion. It's our defense against ourselves, the one foe who might defeat us.

America's corporate and political elites now form a regime of their own and they're privatizing democracy. All the benefits - the tax cuts, policies and rewards flow in one direction: up.

Democracy may not prove in the long run to be as efficient as other forms of government, but it has one saving grace: it allows us to know and say that it isn't.

When a library is open, no matter its size or shape, democracy is open, too.

War, except in self-defense, is a failure of moral imagination.

... inequality matters ... If you get sick without health coverage, inequality matters. If you're the only breadwinner and out of work, inequality matters. If your local public library closes down and you can't afford to buy books on your own, inequality matters ... If you lose your job as you’re about to retire, inequality matters. And if the financial system collapses and knocks the props from beneath your pension, inequality matters.