“It is not what you look at, but what you see.”

Without a high pain threshold, you can’t be a successful President.

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.”

“Some things have to be believed to be seen.”

“If the people who make the decisions are the people who will also bear the consequences of those decisions, perhaps better decisions will result.”

“We are alone, absolutely alone on this chance planet: and, amid all the forms of life that surround us, not one, excepting the dog, has made an alliance with us.”

“This is like deja vu all over again.”

“We need a president who’s fluent in at least one language.”

“Hysteria is only possible with an audience.”

“The great thing about a computer notebook is that no matter how much you stuff into it, it doesn’t get bigger or heavier.”

“Have regard for your name, since it will remain for you longer than a great store of gold.”

Everyone from MoveOn and DailyKos to Pajamas Media and Next Right to Wikipedia and Reddit are begging Barack Obama and John McCain to change the rules so that the third debate won’t be so mind numbingly boring as the first two.

It’s not going to happen: The “debates” are boring precisely because both candidates’ reps negotiated the rules in such a way as to…

You can get much further with a kind word and a gun than you can with a kind word alone.

Barack Obama, flush with cash, is buying 30 minute spots — so far on ABC and NBC — that will air on the anniversary of Black Tuesday. James Hibberd and Paul J. Gough:

The Obama campaign is producing a nationwide pitch to voters that will air on at least two broadcast networks. The ad will run Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. — less than a week before the general election.

The…

“What sunshine is to flowers, smiles are to humanity. These are but trifles, to be sure; but scattered along life’s pathway, the good they do is inconceivable.”

I got a CNN breaking news alert a few minutes ago informing me that the Dow had dropped more than 500 points in the opening minutes of trading.  It has already recovered:

Stocks staged a huge turnaround Friday morning, with the Dow erasing most of a 700-point slide as fears of a global recession were countered by a willingness of some traders to step in at five-year lows.

The Dow Jones…

The latest media meme is that McCain rallies are full of angry, bitter (and presumably racist) Americans who hate Obama.  Both, apparently, are based a single rally yesterday in Waukesha, Wisconsin — and just two outbursts from the crowd, at that.

Slate’s John Dickerson was on the case last night with a piece titled “A Republican Mob Scene: John McCain’s supporters are…

I’ve posted today’s entry in my series on the issues, this one on health care policy, at The Glittering Eye.

Please join in the discussion and post your own thoughts on the subject!

The previous entries in the series are:

Introduction
Foreign Policy
Economic Policy

“Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.”

“Great ability develops and reveals itself increasingly with every new assignment.”