Quote of the Day:
June 18, 2013
“There is something continuously absorbing and intriguing about Iran that renders the paranoia it provokes entirely bearable. The country is spectacular, the people are approachable, friendly and remain westward-looking. Many are highly educated and skilled, and 6,000 years after the country began, they are still building. In short, they are people the west used to and should still do business with.”
-Jon Snow, Journalist, The Gaurdian, June 16, 2013
Our daily quotes are provided by American University's Simpson Fellows who continue the mission of Reverend James B. Simpson's Contemporary Quotations: The Most Notable Quotes From 1950 to the Present
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- Arts & Letters Daily
- Christopher Buckley at The Daily Beast
- CNN Political Ticker
- Daily Kos
- Drudge Report
- Electoral Vote Predictor
- Ezra Klein at the Washington Post
- Firedoglake
- First Read
- FiveThirtyEight
- Frank Rich at New York Magazine
- Frum Forum
- Gallup
- History News Network
- Instapundit
- Maureen Dowd at The New York Times
- National Review
- National Review's The Corner
- Peggy Noonan at The Wall Street Journal
- Political Wire
- Politico
- Pollster.com
- PostPolitics
- Rasmussen
- RealClearPolitics
- Roll Call
- Salon
- Slate
- Swampland
- Talking Points Memo
- The Daily Beast
- The Daily Caller
- The Daily Dish by Andrew Sullivan
- The Daily Show
- The Economist
- The Hill
- The Huffington Post
- The Nation
- The New Republic
- The Weekly Standard
- Wonkette
June 2011
June 1, 2011
“This is not a battle of borders; this is one of worldviews. It goes back to Isaac and Ishmael, and it’s not going to be changed by a couple of presidents or prime ministers.”
– Mike Huckabee, former Arkansas governor, on an Israeli-Palestinian two-state peace process, at a visit to an Israeli settlement, Feb. 1, 2011, as reported in Politico, Feb. 18, 2011
June 2, 2011
“Nothing about Pawlenty commands attention, so he has to invent those traits in video. He’s kind of like a Toyota Corolla—reliable, performs well under pressure, but doesn’t look like much. He’s a nice guy trying to put a little sizzle on the plate.”
– Steven Schier, political science professor at Carleton College, National Journal, April 9, 2011
June 3, 2011
“Sarah Palin is a soap opera, basically. She’s doing mostly what she does to make money and keep her name in the news.”
– Ron Reagan Jr., in an interview with the Associated Press, as reported in The Washington Post, Feb. 6, 2011
June 4, 2011
“We shouldn’t be fearful of freedom, we shouldn’t be fearful of individual liberty.”
– Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), in opposition of the Patriot Act extension, as reported in The Washington Post, May 26, 2011
June 5, 2011
“If I’m elected, I’ll bring all my expertise as a lawyer, a minister, a manager and a woman.”
– Christine Lagarde, French Finance Minister, on the announcement of her bid for the role of IMF chief, at a press conference in Paris, May 25, 2011
June 6, 2011
“In our democracy, near equality is no equality. Government either treats everyone the same, or it doesn’t. And right now it doesn’t.”
- Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking in favor of gay marriage in Manhattan, May 26, 2011
June 7, 2011
“Twitter is a kind of verbalization of people yelling at their television sets or gnashing their teeth at the newspaper.”
– Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY), New York Times, May 31, 2011
June 8, 2011
“We have to be realistic about what we can achieve in Afghanistan. The notion that the United States can build a Western-style democracy there is a myth.”
- Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), in an op-ed in the Los Angeles Times, May 27, 2011
June 9, 2011
“Divided government is the only government that can do transformational, difficult things.”
- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Time, Jun. 4, 2011
June 10, 2011
“Peace need not be impracticable, and war need not be inevitable.”
- President John F. Kennedy, in a commencement address at American University, Jun. 10, 1963
June 11, 2011
“America not meeting its debt obligation is like allowing a child with matches to sit in a room full of dynamite. I continue to find it close to inconceivable that elected policymakers would allow such a risk.”
- Former Treasury Secretary and presidential economic advisor Lawrence Summers, Time, May 1, 2011
June 12, 2011
“Tea Party people love him. He’s not a senator or a governor. He’s just a mister.”
- Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, on Herman Cain, New York Times, Jun. 5, 2011
June 13, 2011
“Bush had more of a puppy dog feel to him, and Obama is more like a cat.”
- Steve Clemons, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, on the difference between presidential styles, Politico, June 8, 2011
June 14, 2011
“On social media, we should be talking about Syria blocking the use of the social media instead of whether some member of Congress should be using it appropriately or not.”
- Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), Politico, June 8, 2011
June 15, 2011
“No one knows how to act anymore, and people miss people who knew how to act.”
- Columnist Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 7, 2011
June 16, 2011
“The single biggest threat to our national security is our debt.”
– Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in a speech at the Detroit Economic Club Luncheon, August 26, 2010, as reported in Time, April 25, 2011
June 17, 2011
“If journalism in a democracy is about anything, it is about bringing the expansive rhetoric of politicians down to earth and holding them accountable for how their ideas translate into policies that affect actual human beings.”
- Columnist E.J. Dionne, Jr., Washington Post, Jan. 6, 2011
June 18, 2011
“Losing isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you…not standing up for what you believe in and fighting for those things is the worst thing.”
- Former Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA), on his electoral defeat in 2006, Meet the Press, June 12, 2011
June 19, 2011
“Republicans hate social engineering, unless they’re doing it.”
- Maureen Dowd, columnist, New York Times, April 2, 2011
June 20, 2011
“The informal caucus of congressmen and senators who cheat, flirt or make inappropriate comments to women of any age has not been dented by Weiner’s fall. The exposure rate will continue to turn on arbitrary and unwritten rules, and the sin rate will remain thoroughly bipartisan.”
- Former Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.), Politico, Jun. 17, 2011
June 21, 2011
“I am determined to defeat our enemies. But victory and security will not come easily. And they won’t come at all if we adhere to a rigid ideology, adopt a narrow methodology, or abandon our most effective terror-fighting weapon – our Article Three court system.”
– Attorney General Eric Holder, on the right to a trial by jury, in an address to the American Constitution Society, Jun. 17, 2011
June 22, 2011
“Speech doesn’t corrupt. Money corrupts, and money isn’t speech.”
– Former Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI), on the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, in the keynote speech at Netroots Nation, Jun. 17, 2011
June 23, 2011
“Some argue for half-measures, or for delaying the inevitable because the politics are too hard. But delay is a decision to let America decline. The longer we wait, the harder our choices become.”
– Former Gov. Jon Huntsman, on the need for swift debt-reduction policies, Wall Street Journal, Jun. 1, 2011
June 24, 2011
“Waging war is the most serious business our nation does.”
– Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Washington Post, Jun. 6, 2011
June 25,2011
“They look like the homecoming queens, but they talk like Ronald Reagan. Who wouldn’t want that combination?”
– Kellyanne Conway, GOP pollster, on Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann, Washington Post, Jun. 6, 2011
June 26, 2011
“Wishing for the end to AIDS and extreme poverty in Africa is like wishing that gravity didn’t make things so damn heavy. We can wish it, but what the hell can we do about it?”
– Bono, in a commencement speech at the University of Pennsylvania, May 19, 2004
June 27, 2011
“I believe it is a good thing to get rid of Gaddafi. But does America have to do everything?”
- Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), on the US’ involvement in Libya, Washington Post, Jun. 24, 2011
June 28, 2011
“The word ‘campaign’ is a war term. So when you go into a campaign you just prepare to go to war.”
- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, The Journal of Politics, 2003
June 29, 2011
“It turns out what works is op-ed TV, like the op-ed page of a newspaper [rather] than a debate.”
- Lawrence O’Donnell, on cable news, The Washington Post, May 26, 2011
June 30, 2011
“If you get the nomination of a major party, you can win the presidency, I don’t care what people write about you inside the Beltway.”
- Former Gov. and DNC Chairman Howard Dean, on Sarah Palin, The Hill, Jun. 4, 2011