Michael Kinsley

Of course, conservatives always claim to be against judicial activism.

— Michael Kinsley

A gaffe is a politician inadvertently telling an inconvenient truth.

— Michael Kinsley

Americans don't want leadership. They want alchemy.

— Michael Kinsley

Journalistic conventions make it hard for reporters to deal with a big, complicated lie.

— Michael Kinsley

A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth.

— Michael Kinsley

I have a saying: the scandal isn't what's illegal, the scandal is what's legal.

— Michael Kinsley

The definition of a gaffe is when a politician tells the truth.

— Michael Kinsley

Anything that keeps a politician humble is healthy for democracy.

— Michael Kinsley

In those days, the late 1970s, one of the leading politicians was a soon-to-be uncle by marriage of Arnold Schwarzenegger, named Ted…

— Michael Kinsley

So the danger of conservative judicial activism has been averted for another year. Stay tuned.

— Michael Kinsley

The akings clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

— Michael Kinsley

Conservatives and liberals alike have been waiting for this moment for a third of a century.

— Michael Kinsley

If sexual intercourse, as the poets tell us, began in 1963, it was another decade and a half before the American political…

— Michael Kinsley

He's nice enough not to want to be associated with a nasty remark but not nice enough not to make it. Lacking…

— Michael Kinsley

What could be more absurd than the idea that genuine anti-Christian prejudice is a major force in American politics.

— Michael Kinsley

The solution when you don't like someone's speech is not to silence that person, or that corporation. It's more and louder speech…

— Michael Kinsley

It wouldn't be fair to say that conservatives cherish property the way liberals cherish equality. But it would be fair to say…

— Michael Kinsley

The logic is often far-fetched - how does medical marijuana affect interstate commerce? - and some conservatives would like judges to start…

— Michael Kinsley

In recurring episodes over the next couple of decades, the minority view gradually won. A profusion of factors differentiates each case from…

— Michael Kinsley

Is there any other democracy where the voters are as spoiled as they are in the United States? Especially, of course, in…

— Michael Kinsley

Almost any government activity can also be seen as taking property without just compensation. The basic model of an unconstitutional aking would…

— Michael Kinsley

In 1977, at least, he wished to have people believe that he shared and was proud of an attitude toward women that…

— Michael Kinsley

A Supreme Court decision that concessions of this sort were unconstitutional would have taken them off the table and actually increased the…

— Michael Kinsley

They can't take your house and give it to the mayor's mistress, even if they pay you for it. But they can,…

— Michael Kinsley

There is a deadening conformity in the culture of cyberspace in which we don't intend to participate.

— Michael Kinsley

The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

— Michael Kinsley

If hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue, piousness is virtue paying tribute to itself.

— Michael Kinsley

He hasn't said whether he remembers the episode itself - or, if he doesn't, whether that is because it never happened or…

— Michael Kinsley

One answer is that the town's elected officials thought that the project served a public purpose and that the various subsidies and…

— Michael Kinsley

Among the social sciences, economists are the snobs. Economics, with its numbers and graphs and curves, at least has the coloration and…

— Michael Kinsley

Almost any government activity can also be seen as taking property 'without just compensation.' The basic model of an unconstitutional 'taking' would…

— Michael Kinsley

Many 'hard' scientists regard the term 'social science' as an oxymoron. Science means hypotheses you can test, and prove or disprove. Social…

— Michael Kinsley

The case decided on Thursday, though, seemed promising to takings fans because it wasn't about compensation. It was about the requirement that…

— Michael Kinsley

In any event, the proper question isn't what a journalist thinks is relevant but what his or her audience thinks is relevant.…

— Michael Kinsley