Quote of the Day -- Ted Kennedy

Robert Bork's America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, Blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens' doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of the Government, and the doors of the Federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is—and is often the only—protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy….

-- Ted Kennedy, 1987 hearing for Robert Bork (who was not confirmed)

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According to the Biography web site, Ted Kennedy (1932 - 2009) was the youngest brother of John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. He was elected to the Senate when he was 30, and continued to work in Congress throughout his life. Though marked by scandal, Kennedy was viewed as an icon of political progressivism and liberal thought by the time of his death, on August 25, 2009.

Quote of the Day -- Elie Wiesel

Mankind must remember that peace is not God’s gift to his creatures; peace is our gift to each other.

-- Elie Wiesel

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According to the Nobel Prize organization, The Nobel Peace Prize 1986 was awarded to Elie Wiesel (1928 - 2016) "for being a messenger to mankind: his message is one of peace, atonement and dignity."

Book Review: American Nations

I'm a sucker for a book that tackles a "big story," that synthesizes disparate information across time and space to develop a theory explaining the seemingly unexplainable. The book cover of In American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North American depicts the territorial and cultural divisions that Colin Woodard lays out in his book. He traces the history of how each "nation" was settled and describes the underlying values that motivate its citizenry. 

I'm a native and inhabitant of "Yankeedom," and Woodard's summary rings true -- emphasis on education, pursuit of greater good for the whole community, faith in the potential of government to improve people's lives. What I didn't completely understand is why other "nations" don't share these values; why their heritage emphasizes different, even diametrically opposed beliefs and moral virtues. 

Woodard provides a unique lens for viewing key events in our history and highlights the "life and death" battle that Yankeedom and the Deep South continually fight for control and for the ascendancy of their world view. Each considers the others' success an existential threat to their way of life. Each battles, with varying degrees of success, to form coalitions with the other nations to achieve that control.

Understanding the root of a problem doesn't necessarily solve the problem, but it goes a long way toward appreciating how we got here. I'm sure there are holes in Woodard's arguments that astute students of US history will find, but overall, his characterizations ring true and explain so much about the divisions we are experiencing today.

Quote of the Day -- Henry Kissinger

Corrupt politicians make the other ten percent look bad.

-- Henry Kissinger

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Henry Kissinger,as he approaches his 99th birthday, remains a sought-after political analyst who is both respected and despised. As first National Security Advisor and then Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, Kissinger played an instrumental role on the international stage. He orchestrated rapprochement with China and an end to the Vietnam war, for which he won a Nobel Prize amidst loud criticism. On a personal note, I was in Paris when Nixon resigned in 1973. French students, who were pretty confused by our Puritan approach to lying, asked me "will Henry Kissinger have to resign, too." He was popular around the world. 

 

 

Quote of the Day -- Hubert Humphrey

Freedom is hammered out in the anvil of discussion, dissent, and debate...

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Hubert Humphrey (1911 - 1978) is a favorite son of Minnesota. He served for many years in the U.S. Senate and as Vice President for Lyndon Johnson. He ran for President in 1968 amidst the roaring controversy over the Vietnam war. He lost to Richard Nixon. How different history might have been...

Quote of the Day -- Richard Edelman

In this period of information bankruptcy and instability, business has to be a primary source of objective facts, a catalyst for change and a standard-bearer for universal values.

-- Richard Edelman

Quote of the Day -- Rachel Maddow

Our military and weapons prowess is a fantastic and perfectly weighted hammer, but that doesn't make every international problem a nail.

-- Rachel Maddow

Quote of the Day -- Madeleine Maddow

... the purpose of foreign policy is to persuade others to do what we want or, better yet, to want what we want.

-- Madeleine Albright

Quote of the Day -- Mwai Kibaki

Leadership is a privilege to better the lives of others. It is not an opportunity to satisfy personal greed.

-- Mwai Kibaki

Quote of the Day -- John Stuart Mill

Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives.

-- John Stuart Mill

Quote of the Day -- Robert Reich

No economy can continue to function when the vast middle class and everybody else don’t have enough purchasing power to buy what the economy is capable of producing without going deeper and deeper into debt.

-- Robert Reich

Quote of the Day -- Dan Pfeiffer

The filibuster may seem like an odd thing to obsess over during a pandemic, a recession, and after an insurrection. But there is no other option. After nearly a decade, Democrats finally have the power to improve people’s lives and enact progressive policies. Right now we have one hand tied behind our back. When the voters go to the polls in 2022, I would rather they judge us for what we did than what Mitch McConnell stopped us from doing.

Getting rid of the filibuster is not easy. But it can be done. It’s not enough to just yell about those who disagree. We have to do the work.

-- Dan Pfeiffer

Quote of the Day -- Trevor Noah

Unity doesn't mean you just do what the losers want.

-- Trevor Noah

Quote of the Day -- Vladimir Lenin

 

Capitalists are no more capable of self-sacrifice than a man is capable of lifting himself up by his own bootstraps

-- Vladimir Lenin

Quote of the Day -- Robert Zoellick

Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fiber and destroys trust.

-- Robert Zoellick

Quote of the Day -- Oscar Ameringer

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.

-- Oscar Ameringer

Quote of the Day -- W.E.B. Du Bois

Either America will destroy ignorance or ignorance will destroy the United States.

-- W.E.B. Du Bois

Quote of the Day -- Anne O'Hare McCormick

Today the real test of power is not capacity to make war but capacity to prevent it.

-- Anne O'Hare McCormick

Quote of the Day -- Thomas Donahue

The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor.

-- Thomas Donahue

Quote of the Day -- Bertrand Russell

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.

-- Bertrand Russell