We speak with awe of ruling the world, as the supreme attainment; but the world has had many rulers, on the whole a sorry lot.
Aug 082017
Ruling
In ’37 Stalin made a hash
Of party loyalists and army brass.
Decimation: One in ten are shot.
What’s the word when one in ten are not?
Jul 242017
Without the feeling of freedom, slavery is not complete.
Jul 212017
Today all government is popular government — if not by the people, then in their name.
Jul 172017
Power reveals; and absolute power reveals absolutely.
Jul 032017
Democracy and war are the most efficient mechanisms for becoming angry at large groups of people one has never met.
Jun 132017
That a politician is popular with the young may not be sufficient reason to oppose him, but it’s a start.
Jun 072017
The meek shall inherit the earth when the bold are through with it.
May 302017
When one hears that a public figure hates journalists, it may be true; but what will be certain is that journalists hate him.
May 182017
The legislative branch is government as we imagine it, the executive as we know it, the judicial as we resort to it in extremity.
May 042017
We must defend democracy from the half of the population too stupid to be entrusted with it.