Nick Clooney

We decided that how we react to and treat those fellow mortals, wild and domestic, tells us more about ourselves than, perhaps, some of us want to know.

Whatever its other limitations, the Big Apple and those who live there make room for their dogs and cats, take good care of them and abide by the rules made necessary by a huge population.

A salute from this corner to President Bush for saying he was willing to investigate raising or eliminating the cap on salaries subject to the Social Security tax.

It is statesmanlike for the administration and Congress to look to our nation's welfare beyond their terms in office.

In my opinion, the president is right to address future funding, even though Social Security will show a surplus through 2018 and will not run out of funds until 2042.

Social Security is at last on the nation's front burner.

One of the pleasant duties of America's most famous announcers during the relatively short swing era of the big bands was to host late-night remotes from some of the most famous ballrooms throughout the country.

America has faced much more difficult times, including potential national extinction, without flinching.

We didn't defeat the Nazis by becoming Nazis.

The worst thing that can happen to us in an ideological struggle is to become what we are fighting.

We don't defeat evil by becoming evil.

Our actions in the Middle East over the last 15 years have already guaranteed radical Muslims quite enough ammunition to kill Americans for the next century, even if Guantanamo did not exist.

The kind of Iraq that emerges from all of this is ultimately out of our hands.

In matters large and small, many people seemed concerned about churlishness, an ugliness in our relationships that appears to be increasing rather than decreasing.

Our nest eggs, no matter how small, are safe.

Respect and affection for animals, particularly those who share our homes, recognize no geographic borders.

Currently, 94 out of 100 of us pay the Social Security tax all year round.

We like to believe that, in our lifetime, the human condition is improving.

Those who actually hate animals to the point of being cruel to them are outcasts to the rest of us, no matter where in the world they live.

Conventional wisdom holds that setting a timetable for getting American troops out of Iraq would be a mistake.