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Political change happens because it is forced upon the powerful.

Hope is political pabulum for an infantilized nation.

Mark Andrejevic, a professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa at Iowa City, writes that reality shows like Big Brother and Survivor glamorize the intrusiveness of the surveillance state, presenting it as "one of the hip attributes of the contemporary world," "an entrée into the world of wealth and celebrity," and even moral good. In his book Reality TV: The Work of Being Watched, he quotes veterans of The Real World, Road Rules, and Temptation Island who speak about their on-air personal growth and the therapeutic value of being constantly watched. As Josh on Big Brother explains, "Everyone should have an audience." Big Brother, in which ten cohabiting strangers willingly submit to round-the-clock video monitoring, is a celebration of the surveillance state. More than twice as many young people apply to MTV's Real World show than to Harvard, for a chance to live under constant surveillance. But the use of hidden cameras - part of professional wrestling's attraction as well as a staple on reality television - reinforces celebrity culture's frightening assumption that it is normal, indeed enviable, to be constantly watched. For corporations and a government that seeks to make surveillance routine, whether to study our buying habits or read our e-mails or make sure we do not organize social protest, these shows normalize what was once considered a flagrant violation of our Constitutional right to privacy.

The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.

When an individual wishes to stand in opposition to authority, he does best to find support for his position from others in his group. The mutual support provided by men for each other is the strongest bulwark we have against the excesses of authority.

Footnote: Appallingly, the death count is never accurate because lives are affected that will not show up in the statistics. Case in point: while visiting a Veterans Hospital this Memorial Day, I was admitted to the room of a young man who has been back from the desert of Iraq for three years. He tried unsuccessfully to blow his brains out, and is now a virtual vegetable. His 86 year old mother takes a three hour bus ride every other day to his bedside in the hope her boy might recognize her. As of yet, her prayers have not been answered, but she has never missed a visit.<br />
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Author’s Note: I was reluctant to relegate this tragic story to a footnote, but then realized of course that all of the dead will end up here -- in footnotes. It is fitting that this boy’s story should be buried among his brothers’.

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.

The total lack of rationality and competence in the White House and the inability of half of the US population to acquire and understand information are far larger threats to Americans than terrorism.

In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from.

We are quite rich enough to defend ourselves, whatever the cost. We must now learn that we are quite rich enough to educate ourselves as we need to be educated.

Let America realize that self-scrutiny is not treason. Self-examination is not disloyalty.

Those who want victory against terror without addressing underlying grievances want an unending war.