As they see it.

"I find myself in the odd position of being in the same bathtub with the governor and it's a tight fit."

--Mississippi Representative Bobby Moak, chairman of the House Gaming Committee, quoted in the Sun Herald about the debate over casino leases in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

"Every generation has to protect the idea of a representative democracy. If a generation doesn't do that, we're in danger of losing our democracy."

--Kentucky Senator Jack Westwood in the Kentucky Post, after attending a national summit on civic literacy.

"In the past two years, some 27 states have participated in at least a dozen major environmental initiatives--often lawsuits--in opposition to federal environmental policies."

--Article in The Christian Science Monitor.

"Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist will be remembered for many things, but most of all as a defender of the rights of states against the federal government. Such a defense will be needed in the 21st century."

--Editorial in the Seattle Times.

"The task of rebuilding is monumental and disheartening to the outsider. But to the battle-scarred survivors of the Gulf Coast, today is better than yesterday, and tomorrow...