Mr. Washington said, "Government is like fire - an uncertain servant and a fearful master," but he missed the essence. At its core, governance boils down to two questions: "Who says?" and "Who pays?"

On the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Grey Lady of journalism stands revealed, not merely as leftist; not merely as liberal; and not even as socialist or Communist; but, in fact, explicitly anti-American.

If you buy something, that ought to mean you can do whatever you like with it - but big companies want to end that right.

Americans can show good judgment, and do have a conscience, and are willing to be reasonable - if the other side is being reasonable too.

Brazil serves as an object lesson in how government incompetence - not greed, not really bribery even, certainly not totalitarianism, just simple incompetence - can make life difficult on an otherwise free and vibrant economy.