"It is no exaggeration to conclude that it is Ankara's readiness to dance to the tune played by Europe that is encouraging the EU to treat it so shabbily and keep it at the EU's gates for so many years. Turkey is a large and strategically important country, and the EU countries are interested in maintaining economic ties with it, as German chancellor Schmits (for one) confirms. Paradoxically, one way Ankara can raise the EU's interest in having it as a member would be to forge and strengthen ties with other Muslim countries and work publicly and seriously for a Muslim union, while suspending its efforts to join the European Union."

"The conventional wisdom is that President Bush never fires anyone. That is not true. Unfortunately, he usually fires truth tellers that stray from official White House spin—for example, Gen. Edward Shinseki, the Chief of Staff of the Army, for saying that hundreds of thousands of troops would be needed to occupy Iraq, and Larry Lindsey, the president’s chief economist, for his estimate that the war in Iraq would cost $200 billion. This time the president should fire some of the liars who have been loyal to the White House but disloyal to the nation."

"Those who enjoy violence and destruction always have been part of human society, likely representing a genetic thread, and in ancient days they were just the kind of people you might want on the ramparts defending your city. The trouble is America doesn't keep them at home. It insists on sending them abroad to practice their ghastly arts on others."

"The founding fathers of this nation envisioned that the US should be a beacon of liberty, security and justice for the planet. When we see that our present government is straying from that path and embarking on a very dangerous road to serve the interests of a small but powerful lobby, it is our patriotic duty to correct it. ‘Surely, we have been raised for good counsel and forbidding evil.’ These two divinely ordained duties transcend all man-made imposed demarcations. "

"Even if the indictment is entirely meritless, DeLay is an embarrassment as a majority leader. His mania for power and disregard for good government reflect poorly on all Republicans. Because House rules forced DeLay to step down as majority leader, House Republicans have a rare opportunity to replace a leader who has shamed the party with one who is more concerned with passing good laws than humiliating his political opponents. They should take it.”

"When the big boys in high places rant about our ‘national interest’ in the Middle East, they are talking about the dollar."

"A middle-aged woman was also standing in the returns line at Home Depot. She claimed she lacked the strength to pull the ripcord to start the machine. However Home Depot’s zero-return policy on generators does not sympathize with this problem either."

"With current, desperate conditions and the violence that has caused severe damage to Palestinian infrastructure why should Palestinians have to pay for a natural resource that should already be available to them?"