The first impression is always the right one. I rarely change my mind upward about people.
There are real radical Muslim groups out there that really are pretty villainous. You don't have to make them up.
The politics of that year [2004] are old now, but the problem remains the same, the real culture clash of American life. It's between the essence of fundamentalism - paternalism, authority, and charity - and the messy imperatives of democracy, "the din of the vox populi" once derided by Abram Vereide. It's the difference between false unity, preached from above, and real solidarity, pledged between brothers and sisters - the kinds who are always bickering.
The Family is the oldest and arguably most influential religious political organization in Washington.
Whoever is holding the power says, "Yeah, let's keep things civil and quiet. " Whoever's outside say's, "No, I'm not going to keep things civil and quiet, I'm going to bang on the door. "
My favorite forgotten President in American history is James Buchanan, who in defending really robust and sharp-elbowed debates said, "I like the noise of democracy. I like the sound of people in the streets making noise. "
Liberalism doesn't speak to ideals. Radicalism does.
A generous spirit is as eloquent in acknowledging benefits as it is bounteous in bestowing them.
It is my hope that people today will see that, in another time, in another period, when we saw the need for people to speak up, to organize, to mobilize, and to do something about injustice, we came together.
I'm so sick and tired of all this violence, this gun violence. And how could I speak on it - you know - being one who has advocated violence and gun violence? The only way I could do it was through a song that spoke from the heart.
The best umpired game is the game in which the fans cannot recall the umpires who worked it.