"wisdom and strength are not opposing values"

In an earlier time, when speeches mattered, when rhetoric was valued, when politicians were listened to, the above line would rightly go down in history as a classic. Bill Clinton, in one sentence, crystallized the ultimate parry against the prevailing Republican ideology of the last 25 years. You CAN be strong on defense, well-respected in the world, and actually have a brain in your head. The European sterotype of the ugly American is not a fait accompli. It's just a perfect line. Who knows if it will be remembered in this era of disposable news? We know that what they do remember is often wrong. Case in point: the "Let's roll" comment from Flight 93, which at the very least has been called into question by new details that emerged from the 9/11 Commission Report:

More sounds of fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose up and down. A passenger in the background said, "In the cockpit. If we don't we'll die!" Another yelled, "Roll it!" — an apparent reference to the flight attendants' meal cart, which they used for a battering ram.

(Separately, a passenger, Todd Beamer, called his wife from the plane and she later reported hearing someone say "Let's roll.")

So who knows how words and phrases survive into history. But "wisdom and strength are not opposing values" immediately struck me as destined for the Hall of Fame. I thought it capped an excellent opening night for the Democratic National Convention.