Many people consider the things government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out... without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos. Almost inevitably he comes to the conclusion that the government he lives under is dishonest insane intolerable.

Over grown military establishments are under any form of government inauspicious to liberty and are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.

The fact that political ideologies are tangible realities is not a proof of their vitally necessary character. The bubonic plague was an extraordinarily powerful social reality but no one would have regarded it as vitally necessary.

I want to state upfront unequivocally and without doubt: I do not believe that any racial ethnic or gender group has an advantage in sound judging. I do believe that every person has an equal opportunity to be a good and wise judge regardless of their background or life experiences.

That future depends on the values of self-government our sense of duty loyalty self-confidence and regard for the common good. We are a diverse country and getting more diverse. And these virtues are what keep this great country together.

We can do things the cheap way the simple way for the short-term and without regard for the future. Or we can make the extra effort do the hard work absorb the criticism and make decisions that will cause a better future.

The debt-ceiling vote isn't about what will be done in the future it is about the integrity of America's commitment to support the bonds we issue. Elected officials have an obligation to maintain that integrity regardless of whether they voted for the programs that required the borrowing in the first place.

And regardless of the fact that in this country certainly in the arts we treat comedy as a second-class citizen I've never thought of it that way. I've always thought it to be important. The last time I looked the Greeks were holding up two masks. I've always thought of it not only as having equal value but as the craft of it being funny.

So that's why one of my rules of parody writing is that it's gotta be funny regardless of whether you know the source material. It has to work on its own merit.