The Power of Words

"I believe in rhetoric. I love the history of American political rhetoric, but one lesson I brought out of government is that sometimes there is a limit to the power of words. Americans eventually respond to the situation on the ground. The media pounce on you when you're down. They go after the weak." —Michael Gerson, Washington Post columnist and former Bush speech writer, speaking at a question-and-answer session at The King's College in New York City, reported in World Magazine (January 12, 2008, Vol. 23, No. 1)