-
Barack Obama is probably the coolest president this country will ever have.
Bret Stephens -
The people we need to hear from most are the ones who make themselves heard least - except, of course, on Election Day.
Bret Stephens
-
I think there's always merit in getting out of our ideological silos and being exposed to points of view with which we don't always agree.
Bret Stephens -
The more afraid we are of the shadow of racism, the more conscious we might become of our own unsuspected biases.
Bret Stephens -
It's easy to deprecate some of the puffery and jingoism that often go with affirmations of 'American greatness.' It's also easy to confuse greatness with perfection, as if evidence of our shortcomings is proof of our mediocrity.
Bret Stephens -
I almost never listen to radio or watch political talk shows, especially if I happen to be on them.
Bret Stephens -
Voter fraud is a reality in American elections, but it is typical of the candidate to confuse anecdote with data and turn allegation into conspiracy.
Bret Stephens -
Since the end of World War II, U.S. presidents of both parties have recognized that foreign and domestic policy do not have to be pursued at the expense of each other.
Bret Stephens
-
The intelligent defense of free speech should not rest on the notion that we must tolerate every form of speech, no matter how offensive. It's that we should lean toward greater tolerance for speech we dislike, and reserve our harshest penalties only for the worst offenders.
Bret Stephens -
Donald Trump's more sophisticated defenders have long since mastered the art of pretending that the only thing that matters with his presidency is what it does, not what he says.
Bret Stephens -
What too many of Mr. Trump's supporters want is an American strongman, a president who will make the proverbial trains run on time.
Bret Stephens -
Liberals always cry wolf.
Bret Stephens -
Down with politics and the art of the possible; up with pronouncements and the allure of the prophetic: It's the way of demagogues everywhere.
Bret Stephens -
The United States can only lead a world that's prepared to follow.
Bret Stephens
-
I don't see the point of belonging to a party on the increasingly dubious assumption that it's slightly less bad than the opposition.
Bret Stephens -
I think that for the United States, Hillary Clinton, as awful as I find her, is a survivable event. I'm not so sure about Donald Trump.
Bret Stephens -
I think Black Lives Matter has some really thuggish elements in it. Look - at the risk of being incredibly politically incorrect, but I guess that's my job - I think that all lives matter. Not least black lives.
Bret Stephens -
I routinely interview college students, mostly from top schools, and I notice that their brains are like old maps, with lots of blank spaces for the uncharted terrain. It's not that they lack for motivation or IQ. It's that they can't connect the dots when they don't know where the dots are in the first place.
Bret Stephens -
My wife is German, so I know something about German energy policy.
Bret Stephens -
Socialism may have failed as an economic theory, but global warming alarmism, with its dire warnings about the consequences of industry and consumerism, is equally a rebuke to capitalism.
Bret Stephens
-
No adviser to a president is going to get his way all of the time, but at a minimum, that adviser should be able to defend the tilt of an administration's policy as if it were his own. If not, he should make room for those who can.
Bret Stephens -
There are necessary taboos and essential decencies in every morally healthy society.
Bret Stephens -
We live in a world in which data convey authority. But authority has a way of descending to certitude, and certitude begets hubris.
Bret Stephens -
It's normal that elections make fierce partisans of many of us. It's normal that Mr. Trump would attract the usual right-wing buffoons to his banners. Normal, also, is that many voters may not be troubled by Mr. Trump's cruder statements when they hear him addressing their deepest economic and social anxieties.
Bret Stephens