American society as a whole can never achieve the outer-reaches of potential so long as it tolerates the inner cities of despair.

I believe we should work to end all racism in American society and staunchly defend the inherent rights of every person.

My fellow Americans you have to decide what kind of country you want to live in. If you want a you're on your own winner take all society you should support the Republican ticket. If you want a country of shared opportunities and shared responsibilities - a 'we're all in it together' society you should vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colours breaking through.

When I read about the way in which library funds are being cut and cut I can only think that American society has found one more way to destroy itself.

In December I agreed to extend the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans because it was the only way I could prevent a tax hike on middle-class Americans. But we cannot afford $1 trillion worth of tax cuts for every millionaire and billionaire in our society. We can't afford it. And I refuse to renew them again.

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions.

We ought to be beating our chests every day. We ought to look in the mirror stick out our chests suck in our bellies and say 'Damn we're Americans ' and smile.

It's been a hard time to celebrate to come out with a smile. But I'm an American. Naomi asked me to come out to support other Americans and here I am.

Southerners smile more than other Americans.

Math and science fields are not the only areas where we see the United States lagging behind. Less than 1 percent of American high school students study the critical foreign languages of Arabic Chinese Japanese Korean or Russian combined.

American high school students trail teenagers from 14 European and Asian countries in reading math and science. We're even trailing France.

What we see today is an American economy that has boomed because of policies and developments of the 1950s and '60s: the interstate-highway system massive funding for science and technology a public-education system that was the envy of the world and generous immigration policies.

I love the script and I just thought it was a great role. Like I say it's like this - the script is like this sad funny desperate love song to the lost American man.

The sad fact is that the same terrorist scenarios if they occurred in five different States there could be five different sets of responses to the American people. We need at a minimum a level of coordination on communicating threats to the public.

To the indefinite uncertain mind of the American radical the most contradictory ideas and methods are possible. The result is a sad chaos in the radical movement a sort of intellectual hash which has neither taste nor character.

At a time when 2500 American soldiers have given their lives for the cause of bringing democracy to Iraq it is sad and frustrating to watch the Republican establishment disgrace the exercise of democracy in our own House of Representatives.

The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon shook our nation to the core. Americans were deeply frightened sad and angry and they rallied around a President who at the time showed impressive certitude and calm.

The whole westward expansion myth is seen as romantic. But it's a joke a blot on American history.

The first book I wrote was The Bride Price which was a romantic book but my husband burnt the book when he saw it. I was the typical African woman I'd done this privately I wanted him to look at it approve it and he said he wouldn't read it.

The state of New Jersey is really two places - terrible cities and wonderful suburbs. I live in the suburbs the final battleground of the American dream where people get married and have kids and try to scratch out a happy life for themselves. It's very romantic in that way but a bit naive. I like to play with that in my work.

The American is wholeheartedly for love and romance at any cost.

I think the American West really attracts me because it's romantic. The desert the empty space the drama.

Well being that at the house and being in the competition it was very hard to be with family. We couldn't have visitors out of respect for everyone else there. But being the American Idol the focus would have been on me.