The recent Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency was a wash. Both candidates, who claim to be Christians, spent much of their time pandering to the nearly 3 million television viewers who tuned in. But in terms of what presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama had to say, their responses were largely lacking in content.

Illinois Senate President Emil Jones has never been fully appreciated as a legislative leader. Jones, who announced his retirement last week after years at the helm, has a manner of speaking that leads far too many people to assume that he is not intelligent.

There once was a proper young English miss named Alice Pleasance. She, according to Lewis Carroll biographers, was the real-life inspiration for a fictional Alice who tumbled down a rabbit hole and commenced a tour of a riotous realm called Wonderland.

During her wanderings, she encountered an egg named Humpty Dumpty and came away with a memorable sound bite.

Declaimed Mr. Dumpty, "When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."

As an object lesson to the political pragmatists of the United States - those "practical" advocates of "democracy" who see no role for principles in government, just "majority rule" - one need only pause and consider the recent events in Venezuela to realize the profound impact principles actually do have on human affairs.