Ronald Reagan was a dim hack who did horrible damage to almost everything he touched. — Charlie Pierce Almost Copy Share Image
To recognize that head injuries were as essential a part of football as they are of boxing would be to erase the… — Charlie Pierce Boxing Copy Share Image
At the time of his death, John Kennedy had a national security establishment that was a writhing ball of snakes. — Charlie Pierce Ball Copy Share Image
Gradually, football has seen its appeal slip at the most basic levels. Pediatricians are advising parents not to let young children play… — Charlie Pierce Advising Copy Share Image
There is a lot in American politics (and in American life) that is angry, greedy, reckless and violent. — Charlie Pierce American life Copy Share Image
In order to get big things done, sometimes, presidents have to be deft at moving the pea around under the shells. — Charlie Pierce Big things Copy Share Image
There is a barbarism in the American soul, and we must protect some of it by law. To root it out is… — Charlie Pierce American Copy Share Image
Optimism…is neither weak nor naive. It can be tough and pure and earned just as clearly as any brooding existential despair. — Charlie Pierce Brooding Copy Share Image
'We, The People' is more than a statement of purpose. It is an acknowledgement of an obligation to each other. — Charlie Pierce Acknowledgement Copy Share Image
It is the doctrine of the oligarchy that there is nothing that we hold in common, that the commonwealth is a myth,… — Charlie Pierce Common Copy Share Image
The entire existence of the NFL - and of football at any level, for all of that - rests on whether or… — Charlie Pierce Any Copy Share Image
Nobody loves the Boston Marathon as much as the people who make fun of it year after year. This was the race… — Charlie Pierce Actually Copy Share Image
One of the great changes wrought by the increased public awareness of Alzheimer's - and thank you, Nancy Reagan, you wonderful tough… — Charlie Pierce Alzheimer Copy Share Image
Obama ran as sane and decent, as though we were electing a mood, and not necessarily a set of policies. Unfortunately, Obama… — Charlie Pierce Any Copy Share Image
In theory, at least, all presidents are servants of the people who elected them. In the case of Barack Obama, it has… — Charlie Pierce Applied Copy Share Image
There was no way to lock down, or tighten up, or Fail-Safe into Security Theater a race that covers 26.2 miles, a… — Charlie Pierce Boston Copy Share Image
The institutions of college athletics exist primarily as unreality fueled by deceit. The unreality is that universities should be in the business… — Charlie Pierce Absurdity Copy Share Image
Every president learns on the job because nobody's really prepared for the kind of decisions that cross your desk every day. No… — Charlie Pierce Decision Copy Share Image
Paul Ryan hasn't lacked for a job since he left college as the golden child of Wisconsin Republican politics, riding his family… — Charlie Pierce Bob Copy Share Image
The murder of John Kennedy in broad daylight in the streets of an American city remains, to me, an unsolved crime. — Charlie Pierce American Copy Share Image
In 1989, my father died after a prolonged struggle with Alzheimer's disease. All four of his siblings followed him into the shadow… — Charlie Pierce Affliction Copy Share Image
In the fall of 1989, I was writing 600-word columns at the 'Herald.' My heart always was in long-form narrative writing, though.… — Charlie Pierce Always Copy Share Image
I judge the jobs I've had in this business by the places they took me, and by that standard, there simply has… — Charlie Pierce Been Copy Share Image
Campaigns are no longer high-minded exchanges of ideas, even though God knows we need more good ones - ideas, that is. — Charlie Pierce Campaigns Copy Share Image
If religion comes into the public square, it is as vulnerable as any other human institution to be pelted with produce. Ignorance… — Charlie Pierce Doe Copy Share Image
The Republicans find their faith imperiled by Barney Frank's marriage. There is always a shadow on the wall, a monster in the… — Charlie Pierce Closets Copy Share Image
According to the people who dearly would love to throw him out of office, Barack Obama was elected to be 'above politics.'… — Charlie Pierce Above Copy Share Image
The idea that America elected a black man to be its president forty years after it declined to allow Martin Luther King… — Charlie Pierce After Copy Share Image
Launching a newspaper without a coherent idea of how you're going to promote it, or get it to people who might want… — Charlie Pierce About Copy Share Image
For all the huffing and blowing we get about rugged individualism, the American spirit and the American experiment always have had at… — Charlie Pierce American spirit Copy Share Image
Barack Obama is not a man of The Gut, and it is driving official Washington crazy. This is a good thing, because… — Charlie Pierce A good thing Copy Share Image
Football was always a deal we made with ourselves. We adopted it for its brutality, which was embedded in a context that… — Charlie Pierce Adopted Copy Share Image
We create our own government. We are responsible for its beauty and for its ugliness. We are responsible for its glories and… — Charlie Pierce Architect Copy Share Image
It is now an article of absolute faith among Republicans that 'the government' is an entity separate from 'the American people,' which… — Charlie Pierce About Copy Share Image
As a writer, I have to admit, there is something darkly compelling about Alzheimer's because it attacks the two things most central… — Charlie Pierce About Copy Share Image
You know, what genuinely makes me uneasy with the way things are going are not - is not really that Trump is… — Charlie Pierce People Copy Share Image
There is a reason why conservatives talk about 'government' and not 'self-government,' because to refer to the latter is to concede that… — Charlie Pierce About Copy Share Image
As he enters his final term, with the elegiac music playing out there in the distance, Barack Obama will use the history… — Charlie Pierce Again Copy Share Image
Bill Clinton was not a symbol. People did not invest in him their idea of what America should be or, worse, their… — Charlie Pierce America Copy Share Image
