It's a funny story; it's not a self-aggrandizing one.

left behind a country that was more dynamic, more competitive, more tolerant, less deferential, less self-confident, less united, more socially equal, less economically equal, more expressive, more risk-averse, more sexual, less literate, less polite, less reticent.

There are a lot of wonderful people in America who shouldn't be on the Supreme Court -- and a lot who should be on the court who aren't such wonderful people.

No one thinks Canada is sending troops to Iraq.

Maybe it's true that people with less extreme views who are also interested in public affairs have been driven out by a marketplace that doesn't offer them anything of the tone they want to listen to.

The Bush administration since 9/11 has been again and again fighting to escape gravity, fighting to escape the weight of the way things have always been done. Things are now coming to a decision point, and we'll know soon.