Overheard On The Toobz

From a bunch of posts across Twitter and Facebook and Reddit et al:

Out of the blue, I asked, "Have you ever read Reinhold Niebuhr?"

Obama's tone changed. "I love him. He's one of my favorite philosophers."

So I asked, "What do you take away from his writing?"

"I take away," answered Obama, "the compelling idea that there's serious evil in the world; and hardship; and pain. And we should be humble and modest in believing we can eliminate those things. But we shouldn't use that as an excuse for cynicism and inaction. I take away ... the sense that we have to make these efforts knowing they are hard, and not swing from naive idealism to bitter realism."

We've had presidents who think about - and can articulate - some great notions.

We've had some great presidents. And we can have them again, but not without a fight.