We are at the edge of an abyss and we're close to being irrevocably lost.

When people say, 'You're not being realistic,' they're just trying to tag some thoughts that they can't otherwise handle.

I think they've lost their competitive edge in terms of reliability.

The country was brought back from the edge of the abyss. He gave us freedom.

Incumbents in both parties are dancing perilously close to the edge right now: Gas prices are out of control, we are bogged down in Iraq and now politicians seem to be doing more talking than acting. We may be heading toward an election in which the attitude is to throw the bums out, and if that happens, Republicans will pay the bigger prices because they are in control.

I don't think we have very good records about what they were thinking except, as I pointed out earlier today, that they did invent our political system.