Herzon on History

History has no libretto and this is difficult especially when there is no libretto. And if there were a libretto, then history would be unnecessary. And then it would be a practical joke.

Isaiah Berlin on Washington

No town has ever taken itself so seriously with so little reason.

The Onion on God

"God's the ultimate playa, so naturally He's gonna have some haters," rapper Ice Cube said. "But these haters need to realise that if you mess with the man upstairs, you WILL get your ass smote. True dat."

Michael Leeden on 9/11

Creative destruction is our middle name. We do it automatically and that is precisely why the tyrants hate us and are driven to attack us.

The Economist on W.

Mr Bush is the right man for the moment. His natural diffidence and his verbal dyslexia make his new willingness to stand up to the podium all the more impressive. Mr Bush was the perfect embodiment of the carefree America that died on September 11th 2001: an America which thought little about abroad, which was awash with easy money, and which saw no reason why you couldn't cut both taxes and increase social spending.