Quotes from 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 Kennedy.

The logic is often far-fetched - how does medical marijuana affect interstate commerce? - and some conservatives would like judges to start throwing out federal laws wholesale on commerce clause grounds. The court once again said no thanks.

It wouldn't be fair to say that conservatives cherish property the way liberals cherish equality. But it would be fair to say that the takings clause is the conservatives' recipe for judicial activism just as they say liberals have misused the equal protection clause.

In 1977, at least, he wished to have people believe that he shared and was proud of an attitude toward women that is not acceptable in a politician. In 2003, all he has said is that he doesn't remember the interview.

However well you do in the competition for the greatest toys, longest life, and healthiest brain, the best medical research indicates that eventually you're going to be dead. And you're going to stay dead for many years longer than you were alive, and all that will be left of you is people's memories of you, which is to say, your reputation.

Parkinson's is as much about cognitive problems as it is about physical ones. The motor effects usually become evident before the mental effects, which is part of why movement issues get more attention.

A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say.

If you want to be remembered as a good person, then try to be a good person. Who knows? It might just work. But start now, because if you're a boomer, time is running out.

A person who is sixty and healthy almost surely will live many more years. But sixty is about the age when people stop being surprised if you look old or feel sick or drop dead.