Unwelcome is unwelcome at any age.

North Carolina public educator JANE MARTIN, explaining the rationale behind the punishment of 6-year-old Johnathan Prevette, who stands accused of kissing a female classmate on the cheek. Johnathan--who insists the girl asked him to kiss her--was given an in-school suspension, which caused him to miss coloring, playtime, and an ice-cream party for students with good attendance.

He's acted in a way that's completely deplorable, even if he were married.

Former Roman Catholic priest ALEX WALKER, commenting on the scandalous behavior of Roderick Wright, bishop of Argyle, who fathered an illegitimate son, now 15, and abandoned the boy's mother upon learning of the pregnancy.

The pro-quota side is nervous enough about the outcome to be running one of the most dishonest campaigns in recent history, employing a bag of dirty tricks more suited to an old Soviet KGB disinformation operation than a democratic election.

USA Today op-ed columnist LINDA CHAVEZ, complaining about the invitation of former KKK leader and politician David Duke to speak at California State University at Northridge in favor of the California Civil Rights Initiative; the invitation was tendered by forces in opposition to CCRI, she says, in an attempt to link supporters of the initiative with racism.

I was wrong.

Richard Cohen, syndicated Washington Post columnist, explaining why he has changed his mind and now supports overriding the president's veto of the partial-birth abortion ban.

[The use of ghostwriters] is a reflection of the deterioration of values and high moral principles that is pervasive in the country today.

Baylor University medical ethicist LOIS DeBAKEY, commenting in a USA Today article on the prevalence of drug-company-financed ghostwriting about new drugs that appears in medical journals under the "authorship" of supposedly objective researchers.

I love people, I love God, I love my family. I have benefited greatly from going to church. I learned a lot there. I was challenged. . . . And I will tell you that our family prayed about my decision to run for office. Maybe that makes me an extremist.

Three-time Olympic runner JIM RYUN, who is running for Congress as a Republican in Kansas.