It's a national holiday, plus I'm on "vacation", but the posts keep coming!

More than a few people have written to me trying to reconcile (1) my distaste for the goings-on in Washington; and (2) my support for Obama last year.

This isn't a political blog, nor do I have an interest in agitating for any given political philosophy. We live in a relatively centrist country, and even in last year's extraordinary election, the split between McCain and Obama wasn't 10/90 – – it was much closer to 50/50. So anyone taking one "side" or the other is going to wind up with a lot of people who disagree (unless his readers are all on a web site heavily tilted to the left or the right).

In my opinion, sometimes history is larger than the people living within it. My support for Obama – – and it wasn't jumping-up-and-down support, but this-one-is-better-than-the-other support, was based principally on his intellect and earnestness. But no one – not Obama, not McCain, not Marmaduke the Dog – could step into office in January 2009 and make things right.

If, for instance, we could hold an election for Captain of the Titanic after it struck an iceberg, we may strive to choose the wisest and most capable leader. But the ship's still going to sink. And a lot of people are still going to perish. An especially intelligent and wise leader may get a few more lifeboats available so that a few more people are saved, and perhaps there will be a little less panic. But it's still going to be bad.

So there can be situations where (a) one can opt for a given leader yet (b) still be really unhappy with the situation. I may be very pleased that I voted for Captain Brown instead of Captain Smith, but I'm still distressed that the ship I am on has its bow sticking in the air and hundreds of people are falling into freezing water.

I hope this helps explain things.

Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.

I am a firm believer in the people. If given the truth, they can be depended upon to meet any national crisis. The great point is to bring them the real facts.

I care not much for a man's religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again be seen as the last best hope of earth.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.

Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.

You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.

You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.