“To restrict or legalize abortion, to allow or forbid gay marriage, a legislator would need to write and pass a law, get it signed by the president or a governor, and perhaps override a veto. A Supreme Court justice need only persuade four other people. If he or she is not internally constrained by the authority of a text, he or she is not constrained.” PoliticsUnited StatesAbortionPolitics Of The United StatesSame Sex MarriageScotusUnited States Constitution Author:Michael Gerson
“The NSA is not looking through people's address books and Visa bills and violating the rights of average citizens. That's not what the NSA does.” PeopleDoeBookRightsCitizensBillsAverageAddressesNsaVisaAddress Books Author:Michael Gerson
“Atheists can be good people; they just have no objective way to judge the conduct of those who are not.” PeopleWayJudgingAtheistBe GoodObjectivesGood People Author:Michael Gerson
“There is some of the paradox of foreign policy polling. So on Iraq and Syria, the President is pretty much doing what Americans want, he's not very engaged, but they don't like the results, his polling numbers are going down. Americans may be ambivalent and disengaged with the world, they don't want a President who is ambivalent and disengaged with the world.” WorldPresidentPolicyParadoxForeign PolicySyria Author:Michael Gerson
“It's hard when the worst people in the country are cheering, the people with the confederate flag, the people that do anti-Semitism on Twitter, that's difficult for a lot of people in this country. But, you know, I do think an inaugural, for example, is almost always an act of national healing.” PeopleThinkingCountryDifficultHealingWorstCheerConfederateInaugural Author:Michael Gerson
“When your goal is to bring together the country in a substantive way to say that we're united by values and more - that are - you know, stronger than the things that divide us. That could be a moment.” CountryMomentsTogetherValuesGoalStronger Author:Michael Gerson
“This has all the appearance of a foreign power trying to undermine structures of legitimacy of an American election. That is a serious matter. If I were the media, I would be wary of using anything that came out of these document dumps which serves the purpose of a foreign power. But, at the very least, Americans have to discount this. This is an attempt to hijack and change American democracy by a foreign power. It can't be accepted.” TryingPurposeDemocracySeriousElectionAppearanceAccepted Author:Michael Gerson
“The problem with these presidential debates like this is that you can't really prepare for them, because the questions are so individual and personal or even idiosyncratic. Secretary Hillary Clinton has a lot richer and deeper experience in doing these, obviously, than Donald Trump.” ProblemIndividualClintonDebatePresidentialSecretary Author:Michael Gerson
“When you analyze it, Mike Pence could only defend Donald Trump in some circumstances by projecting an image of himself, as though he were - that Trump held his views on Russia or his views on Syria. And that's really not true. So, it was a weird way to defend the person at the top of your ticket.” CircumstancesSyria Author:Michael Gerson
“The Republican Party has become more conservative. The Democratic Party has become marginally more liberal. There's almost no overlap in the middle, ideological overlap, in either house of Congress. That leaves moderates homeless. We have had a hollowing out of the middle in the U.S. Congress. There's less opportunity for compromise.” OpportunityHousePartyRepublicanDemocraticConservativeCompromiseHomelessRepublican PartyDemocratic PartyIdeological Author:Michael Gerson
“Parenthood offers many lessons in patience and sacrifice. But ultimately, it is a lesson in humility. The very best thing about your life is a short stage in someone else’s story.” StoriesLife IsSacrificeStageHumilityLessonsOffersBest ThingsParenthood Author:Michael Gerson
“The soft bigotry of low expectations” LowsExpectationsBigotrySelf Fulfilling ProphecyLow ExpectationsInner City Schools Author:Michael Gerson
