Kissinger did not seek to make the world “safe for democracy.” Instead, he sought to create stability based upon trust and cooperation between strong leaders while ensuring continuous mediation by the American government. To him, the establishment and preservation of order and justice were not organic developments, but rather policy choices made by political elites that required active enforcement prior to being accepted by the general public. The pursuit of political goals through more democratic means was, intellectually and emotionally, too dangerous ...

The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.

Chiquita was an equal-opportunity terror funder in Colombia: it also made payments to leftist guerrilla groups, including the notorious FARC. Nothing to do with ideology, of course. Just a routine business expense.

The argument here isn’t that voters are rational, well-informed beings. It’s all going to depend on turnout.

The Bush memorandum draws the sweeping conclusion that even federal programs subject to antidiscrimination laws can give money to groups that discriminate. Several law professors who specialize in religious issues called the argument legally dubious.

Down markets are good times to take a hard look.

Many of those who urge postponing dealing with the reform of regulations really hope that, once the crisis is passed, business will return to usual, and nothing will be done.

Mr. Black’s revolutionary idea was simply that we are not as shielded from a sudden dose of bad luck as we might like to think.

I don't share much of the endless cultural fascination with teenage manners and mores, but this has an undeniable, chocolate-level irresistibility.