"For generations, millions have been inspired by our great nation and its values. As we acknowledge the damage that has been done, we must remain cognizant of the responsibility that has fallen on our shoulders to restore that hope."

"What's in place is a profit-driven system of health care with devastating effects on human beings. Even the most illuminating stats tend to become glib, abstracting calibration of damage to lives in the United States, where at any moment 47 million people are uninsured and another 50 million are badly under-insured."

"During all this time, Senator McCain was clearly frustrated. Some observers noted that while McCain might have taken advantage of Senator Obama's absence from the U.S. to focus on critical domestic messages that would have strengthened his standing, he instead was reduced to an angry heckler on the sidelines."

"There are some who argue that obscene, hateful and threatening language should not be punished, since to do so would be a violation of free speech. (This, in fact, was the initial defense raised by the individual in this case, before he ultimately pled guilty to the charges against him.) They are wrong. Such behavior is a crime, and individuals who commit these crimes do so precisely because they seek to violate the free speech of others. And though their targets are individuals, the intended victims are entire communities who the hate criminals seek to intimidate into silence."

"Wilson's initial instinct was right. Opinions do matter. They did then, and still do today. Ignoring them, and implementing policies that do not have broad public support, only invites disastrous consequences. That was true then, and it is still true now."

"Under a McCain presidency, we’d be back to the square one where we’ve found ourselves since January 2001. Putting Obama in the White House would not by any means ensure progressive change, but under his presidency the grassroots would have an opportunity to create it."

“The Maclean’s article, and others like it, are examples of [Islamophobia]. By portraying Muslims as all sharing the same negative characteristics, including being a threat to ‘the West’, this explicit expression of Islamophobia further perpetuates and promotes prejudice towards Muslims and others. An extreme illustration of this is a 'blog' discussion concerning the article that was brought to the attention of the Commission which, among many things, called for the mass killing, deportation or conversion of Muslim Canadians.”

-- Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission

"As settlements grew (there are now almost a half million Israelis living in settlements in these occupied lands), not only did Palestinians lose ancestral lands and agricultural areas, they also lost freedom of movement, their way of life, and their hope for the future."