I think that all areas of the budget have to be scrubbed. Clearly the entitlement issues have to be reformed and that's an issue that's going to require I think some strong bipartisan cooperation and leadership.

You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress.

I think national issues play into gubernatorial races less than obviously in Senate and Congressional races. Much less. They tend to be more decided by personality leadership qualities and by state or local issues. They still have some effect no question about it but not as much as Senate and Congressional races.

Obama is thoroughly mixed up with all these things he's got. He's got to solve Libya. He's got to solve Afghanistan. He's everywhere. And this nation I don't know why it's not showing the leadership and capacity to attend different issues at the same time.

I have never been afraid to stand up to the leadership on issues where we disagree. If you chose to keep Cambridge Labour then I can continue to press the Government for the things that matter to you in a way that members of the opposition are unable to.

The things journalists should pay attention to are the issues the political leadership agrees on rather than to their supposed antagonisms.

The security of the United States which is so dependent on having accurate and timely intelligence is not a Republican or a Democratic issue.

I also believe that it is time to begin the fundamental analysis of how we got here what led us here and what we need to do in order to ensure that we are equipped with the best possible intelligence as we face these issues in the future.

When I resigned I put the U.S. Government on notice that I'm going to stick to policy issues that I have no intention of going out and blowing the cover off of the intelligence operations that those are truly sensitive and they should not be exposed.

Now I'm a failed political consultant. But sometimes fiction has a way of capturing people's imagination in a way that non-fiction doesn't. Conservatives typically haven't written much fiction - specifically political thrillers - over the years to educate inspire and mobilize people on issues of great import but we ought to.

I've never taken any issue off the table for lack of suitability. Only for lack of imagination.

Every great advance in science has issued from a new audacity of imagination.

Humor can inform and break down stigma which is a huge issue in the military.

Well it's a humor strip so my first responsibility has always been to entertain the reader... But if in addition I can help move readers to thought and judgment about issues that concern me so much the better.

True humor springs not more from the head than from the heart. It is not contempt its essence is love. It issues not in laughter but in still smiles which lie far deeper.

Loss of hope rather than loss of life is what decides the issues of war. But helplessness induces hopelessness.

The difficulty of IVF or of any fertility issues is the hope and the shattered hope the dream that it might happen this time and then it doesn't happen.