Hyperbole is not easily dealt with. Usually, it collapses under its own weight.

Once they have actually left office, we seem to grow fonder of our ex-presidents - and they of each other. That's why so many sighed in approval at Michelle Obama's public display of affection with George W. Bush at last month's dedication of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture.

It gets tiresome after a while.

I was taught that the search for truth and the search for justice are not incompatible and are, in fact, essential.

I'm a preacher's kid, and we were always told, Act right all the time, because someone's always watching.

I learned how to cover race riots by telephone. They didn't pay me enough at my first newspaper job to venture onto the grounds of South Boston High School when bricks were being thrown. Instead, I would telephone the headmaster and ask him to relay to me the number of broken chairs in the cafeteria each day.