Quotes of the day

But we can't build a school system that depends on everyone being a gifted natural teacher with a fire in the belly for imposing civilization on thirty godless savages every term. We need a system that produces good results even when the teachers are just there to do a job.--Megan McArdle

We are friends of Israel….We cannot second-guess the steps Israel thinks it needs to take to defend itself.--Sarah Palin

A commenter on Marginal Revolution complains that [Sarah Palin] thought Fannie and Freddie were government entities. I think we have to give her a pass on this, given how many of the world's central bankers made the same mistake.--Megan McArdle

Palin was out there in plain sight, but Democrats didn't see her, presumably because they didn't anticipate that McCain would be so daring. But McCain was trained as a fighter pilot. Fighter pilots don't shoot down enemy planes by doing what the enemy anticipates.--Michael Barone

I think here the media is on very dangerous ground. I think that when you see them going through every single expense report that Governor Palin ever filed, if they don’t do that for all four of the candidates, they’re on very dangerous ground. I think the media so far has been the biggest loser in this race. And they continue to have growing credibility problems.--Mark Penn, former Clinton campaign chief

Palin's beliefs are compared to those of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright -- though it turns out that she was caught on tape requesting prayers for the success of her country instead of railing against it. In that sense, Palin sounds most like President Franklin Roosevelt, who prayed on D-Day that, "by Thy grace, and by the righteousness of our cause, our sons will triumph."--Michael Gerson

I think the Republican Party is moribund. Its long tenure has made it corrupt, and depleted its stock of ideas. It has gotten too cosy with the bureaucracy and the lobbyists, and lost touch with its first principles. I do not think that this is some feature of conservatism--indeed, it reminds me quite a bit of the House under Tip O'Neil. But I think the party needs a time out to think about things.--Megan McArdle