I write to keep from going mad from the contradictions I find among mankind - and to work some of those contradictions out for myself.

I continue to believe contrary to the given wisdom that it's more interesting to have an album - or indeed an individual song - which has variety rather than homogeneity.

Analysts may be correct that the presidential election won't primarily turn on entitlements reform but by choosing Paul Ryan as his running mate Mitt Romney can contrary to conventional wisdom make it a winning issue and lay the foundation for a reform mandate when he wins.

I have always been willing to admit when I made a mistake. I made a mistake in my understanding of the composition of the Contras not on my opposition to the Contra war.

There is a question for which we will never know the answer: had the U.S. not launched the Contra war to overthrow the Sandinista government would they have succeeded in bringing socioeconomic justice to the people of Nicaragua?

The U.S. army confirmed that it gave a lucrative fire fighting contract in Iraq to the firm once run by the Vice President Dick Cheney without any competitive bidding. When asked if this could be conceived as Cheney's friends profiting from the war the spokesman said 'Yes.'

Some have argued that confronting the threat from Iraq could detract from the war against terror. To the contrary confronting the threat posed by Iraq is crucial to winning the war on terror.

Morality is contraband in war.

The exact contrary of what is generally believed is often the truth.

What is earnest is not always true on the contrary error is often more earnest than truth.