Hollywood has a history of raising expectations beyond Washingtons reach, of appealing to the very American desire to mythologize political leaders, particularly the president. – Ron Fournier
Movies such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington in 1939 to Dave in 1993 portray Washington leaders as the ultimate Everymen – decent people just like you and me, only thrust onto greatness. – Ron Fournier
White House operatives went to great lengths to show Obama shifting focus from wars abroad to domestic issues at home. – Ron Fournier
For a man who has compared himself to Theodore Roosevelt and the nations challenges to those of the Gilded Age, Obama put forward a tepid agenda. – Ron Fournier
Jews have a special relationship to books, and the Haggadah has been translated more widely, and reprinted more often, than any other Jewish book. It is not a work of history or philosophy, not a prayer book, users manual, timeline, poem or palimpsest – and yet it is all these things. – Jonathan Safran Foer
My generation of bossy, confident, baby-boom women were something brand new in history. Our energy and assertiveness werent created by Betty Friedan, unknown before her 1963 book, or by Gloria Steinem, whose political activism, as even the Lifetime profile admitted, did not begin until 1969. – Camille Paglia