I do not doubt the principles upon which this nation has been erected. Nor do I doubt the ability nor the passion of the common person to uphold them. What I doubt are the leaders who get caught up in the drama of their own agendas to the point that the principles of this great republic become the stuff of fodder in the service of those agendas. That is what I doubt.

Too frequently we assume that mankind possesses the right to avoid all that is wrong in a world that has long forgotten that a great wrong sets the stage to do a greater right.

Rather than being incensed by the nature of the bruise, maybe we should be inspired by the possibilities in the bruise.

I think that there’s some thread of stubbornness that runs within us that says that the greater the tragedy the less we are willing to let it stand. And that’s one reason why I believe in our ability to take the tragedy of a world gone astray and knock the legs out from under it.

It's realizing that the best of life often arises out of the worst of circumstances.

I decry the injustice of my wounds, only to look down and see that I am holding a smoking gun in one hand and a fistful of ammunition in the other.

Whatever might be taken from me need not leave me with a deficit in its wake.