The intelligence community for the most part has no accountability at all to the Congress to us the American people and so they feel that they above the law.

Lincoln's stature and strength his intelligence and ambition - in short all the elements which gave him popularity among men in New Salem rendered him equally attractive to the fair sex of that village.

When I came to the CIA in the mid-'90s our graduating class of case officers was unbelievably low. Now after years of rebuilding our training programs and putting our best efforts to recruit the most talented men and women we are graduating more clandestine officers than at any time in the history of the Central Intelligence Agency.

By definition intelligence deals with the unclear the unknown the deliberately hidden. What the enemies of the United States hope to deny we work to reveal.

To understand a difficult topic like Iraq takes patience and care. Unfortunately you rarely hear a patient careful or thoughtful discussion of intelligence these days.

As a nation we have over the past seven years been rebuilding our intelligence with powerful capabilities that many thought we would no longer need after the Cold War. We have been rebuilding our clandestine service our satellite and other technical collection our analytical depth and expertise.

Here's the teaching point if you're teaching kids about intelligence and policy: Intelligence does not absolve policymakers of responsibility to ask tough questions and it doesn't absolve them of having curiosity about the consequences of their actions.

The only people that ever stand up and tell the truth are who? Intelligence officers. Because our culture is never break faith with the truth. We'll tell you you don't have to drag it out of us.

I feel audiences are not given enough credit for their intelligence.

I think Madonna has a great deal of intelligence and capability. I have a lot of respect for her. She's taken her career and maximized it with intelligence and creativity.