“Safety nets for the poor and disadvantaged are a must for any compassionate nation, but encouraging folks to go on the dole when not absolutely necessary is disgraceful.”

On the policy front, I just believe that Barack Obama was misguided. That he somehow sees this country as being in need of a drastic overhaul.

I think the secret to success is a short-term outlook. So for example, I’m writing the next Killing book now and I have to just make every chapter compelling, so I can’t get too far ahead of it. I just stay in the present and then go over what I have to do.

The Clintons opposed gay marriage. They did don’t ask, don’t tell. They did the Defense of Marriage Act.

That’s my advice to all homosexuals, whether they’re in the Boy Scouts, or in the Army or in high school: Shut up, don’t tell anybody what you do, your life will be a lot easier.

Lotsa people want to hurt me. That’s the price you pay for being a big mouth.

Our philosophy is we call it as we see it. Sometimes you agree, sometimes you don’t. Robust debate is good.

I don’t need the approval of the press, but I just wish they’d stop the viciousness….I never felt sorry for people like Lindsay Lohan in my life. I thought they were dopey little movie stars. Now I feel sorry for those people.

Get punctual, bring energy and creativity to your work, and stay with a project until it’s completed (and then double-check the results). These habits will make you indispensable.

My father firmly embraced the Ralph Kramden philosophy: he was king of his Levittown castle. He worked hard, and his family deferred to his wishes. Except me. I did not defer and was disciplined accordingly.

Traditionalists like me believe the USA has become strong because of its core values, the freedom, individual responsibility and institutions like traditional marriage, which foster common goals.

I’m enamored of any person, a young person, a lesbian, straight, gay guy who wants to go over and kill bad guys for me and my family. That blows me away.

I know that Oswald killed Kennedy. Now, was he pushed? Encouraged to do it by outsiders? Possibly. Possibly. Was he sitting down with Fidel Castro? No.

If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it’s clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush administration again.

I mean, that was a throwaway thought, because my focus was – my intent and my focus was to never go public.

A good journalist’s first priority should be to separate propaganda from fact – but sometimes its very hard to do that.

I know that education is all about discipline and motivation. Disadvantaged students need extra attention, a stable school environment, and enough teacher creativity to stimulate their imaginations. Those things are not expensive.