At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and read more

At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted.

Politics makes strange bed-fellows.

Politics makes strange bed-fellows.

The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal - that you can gather votes like read more

The idea that you can merchandise candidates for high office like breakfast cereal - that you can gather votes like box tops - is, I think, the ultimate indignity to the democratic process.

What a crazy world we live in! Trying to treat addiction as a legal problem, and trying to treat criminal read more

What a crazy world we live in! Trying to treat addiction as a legal problem, and trying to treat criminal misbehaviors using guns as a medical problem! Beam me up, Scotty. Ain't no intelligent life down here.

This case is wholly without merit both factually and legally.
(US District Judge in commenting on the Fox network lawsuit
read more

This case is wholly without merit both factually and legally.
(US District Judge in commenting on the Fox network lawsuit
against Al Franken's book).

A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a read more

A criminal trial is like a Russian novel: it starts with exasperating slowness as the characters are introduced to a jury, then there are complications in the form of minor witnesses, the protagonist finally appears and contradictions arise to produce drama, and finally as both jury and spectators grow weary and confused the pace quickens, reaching its climax in passionate final argument.

I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns, and women join the unqualified men in running our government.

I am working for the time when unqualified blacks, browns, and women join the unqualified men in running our government.

...we are apt to forget that the vast majority of men and women who fell under the totalitarian spell was read more

...we are apt to forget that the vast majority of men and women who fell under the totalitarian spell was activated by unselfish motives, ready to accept the role of martyr or executioner, as the cause demanded.

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their read more

We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances - to choose one's own way.