The arts and humanities are vastly more important in troubled times.
I think America is going to have to think through whether it wants to uplift the political dialogue or advance an approach that divides and, frankly, can lead to violence.
America somehow thinks that leadership relates to governance, and it certainly does. But society is much bigger than governance, and some of the truly great leadership of our society is outside the governance arena.
When I look at Social Security, I consider it the most important social program in the United States, arguably the most successful program in the world.
Iraqis have held elections and have recently put together their government, all encouraging developments.
Drawing on President Bush's reform plan, which would allow citizens to transfer part of their Social Security contributions into personal accounts, an alteration of the current system is needed to make necessary change.
The majority of U.S. high school students don't know within 50 years when the Civil War occurred.
America is very decentralized in how it supports the humanities, unlike European countries where virtually everything stems from the central government.
There are words bandied about that are being misused - words like 'socialism,' words like 'communism,' words like 'fascism.'