Posts Tagged ‘ Quotes ’

Today’s Quotes: America the Great

April 21, 2011
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“To deny American exceptionalism is in essence to deny the heart and soul of this nation.” – Mike Huckabee, August, 2010. “To renew American exceptionalism, we must recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic, but moral in nature… As we seek to build national wealth, we must renew our commitment to the institutions that nurture the character of our people — traditional family and religion.” – Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN) in 2011. “America has been the best country on earth for black folks. It was here that 600,000 black people, brought from Africa in slave ships, grew into a community of 40 million, were introduced to Christian salvation, and reached the greatest levels of freedom and prosperity blacks have ever known.” – Pat Buchanan in 2008. “I believe in America. I believe in the freedom and opportunity, and the principles of our constitution, that have led us to become the greatest nation in the history of the earth …” – Mitt Romney, April, 2011. “It wasn’t a mistake that the fantasy avenger figure of Rambo became immensely popular in the wake of defeat in Vietnam or that, unlike American heroes of earlier decades, he had such a visibly,…

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Today’s Quote: Surprise — Walker Admits Union Busting Had Nothing to Do With Balancing Wisconsin’s Budget

April 16, 2011
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Not a shock to those who have been paying attention to the Reign of Error of the Koch’s Little King in Madison, but remember those speeches where Gov. Scottie insisted his going after public employees unions was strictly about the budget? Yeah, I know — he’s a Republican: you can tell he’s lying because his mouth is moving. BTW, note that his union-busting antics are actually going to COST the state money. I know, that’s typically Republican, too. “Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) asked Walker the key question: What do the union-busting provisions have to do with balancing the budget? ‘Annual votes so unions can continue representing their own members. How much money does this save your state budget?’, Kucinich demanded. ‘It doesn’t save any,’ admitted Walker. “In fact, it is likely to cost the state agency charged with overseeing the elections a pretty penny. Kucinich entered into the record a Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau memo noting that the items were not fiscal.” – Mary Bottari, “Koch-Fueled Controversy Lands in Washington,” PRWatch, April 14, 2011.

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Quote-to-Quote: Edward Bernays on Propaganda

April 11, 2011
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Every day, we are seeing the teachings of the ‘Father of Public Relations,’ Edward Bernays, played out in our media and political discourse. The propaganda techniques of Bernays have been used by Nazi flack Josef Goebbels as well as Frank Luntz and Karl Rove and, unfortunately, they usually work. Until the public realizes they are being hoodwinked by psychological mumbo-jumbo and dismisses the fearmongering and deceptions of the propagandists, the country has little hope of digging out of the ditch that’s been dug for us by the monied elite who pay the propagandists to practice their dark, democracy-killing art. “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. …We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. …In almost…

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Today’s Quote: Brother Admits Koch Industries is an ‘Organized Crime’ Operation

March 23, 2011
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As if those of us who have kept up with the Koch’s sleazy political fun-and-games had any doubt that Koch Industries chieftains David and Charles were crooks, but it’s nice to have confirmation from a family member. “[William] Koch says that Koch Industries engaged in “organized crime. And management driven from the top down.” ” ‘It was – was my family company. I was out of it,’ he says. ‘But that’s what appalled me so much… I did not want my family, my legacy, my father’s legacy to be based upon organized crime.’ ” – From “Koch Brother: Koch Industries an ‘Organized Crime’ Operation,” ReaderSupportedNews.org. Also a must-read, Lee Fang’s Think Progress report on how Koch Industries makes billions from taxpayer-funded bailouts and subsidies. Read it here.

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Today’s Quotes: Corporations Are Lying to Us About the Dangers of Japan’s Nuclear Meltdown

March 17, 2011
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It’s summed up in the emphasized third sentence – if nuclear power plant owners followed every safety precaution, they couldn’t make any money. Neocon Republicans love to spread fear by doting on lurid tales of the destruction that could be wrought by a ‘dirty-bomb’ nuclear device in the hands of a terrorist – so far, ‘peaceful’ nuclear power has killed more people than Al-Qaeda, but you won’t hear the GOP complain; they are, after all, a paid arm of the nuclear power industry. “…[I]t’s been normal for this company in the past [lying to the public]. It’s normal for the industry to some extent. “It’s a highly ideological industry, and it also involves a lot of concentration of political power, as well as physical power. And those institutions become very powerful, very close to the regulators, and an adversarial culture develops where they’re constantly pushing against the safety measures, because that`s where the money is. “If you did every single thing that you — that was possible to make it safe, then you couldn’t make any money.” – Greg Mello of the Los Alamos Study Group on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” March 16, 2011, talking about the Japanese nuclear plants. [Emphasis mine.]…

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Today’s Quotes: Why Predictions By Experts Are Predictably Poor

March 5, 2011
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“…[A] survey of predictions by pundits has confirmed that ‘The future is impossible to predict.’ Liberals, moderates and conservatives were ‘equally ineffective’ in foreseeing global events while the most celebrated experts tended to be the worst, because they’re so sure of themselves that they deny evidence that contradicts their conclusions. ‘In other words,’ adds UC psychologist Philip Tetlock, ‘Our political discourse is driven in large part by people whose opinions are less accurate than a coin toss.’ ” – Philip Proctor, “Weird Science,” Planet Proctor 2011-3, Feb. 28, 2011. “Not one so-called ‘expert’ on the Middle East in the American media predicted the Tunisian uprising or Mubarak’s downfall in Egypt. It’s my belief the reason is that all of them come at any situation overseas with notions that were conceived during the Cold War and their thinking hasn’t progressed since. That, and their knowledge of the Middle East is filtered through the lens of American exceptionalism that automatically downgrades all foreigners to the status of ignorant second-class human beings. As long as this is the case, we will continue to blunder our way through that part of the world to our sorrow.” – Richard Sherricky “In normal circumstances, people who…

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Today’s Quote-to-Quote: The Real Ronald Reagan

February 8, 2011
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Ever wonder where current Republican twits like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann get some of their goofiest, dumbest twists on history, society and government? Seems they are simply borrowing from the ‘Master,’ the same mental colossus many members of the GOP want engraved on the dime and enshrined on Mount Rushmore: “Why should we subsidize intellectual curiosity?” – Ronald Reagan, campaign speech, 1980. “Fascism was really the basis for the New Deal.” – Ronald Reagan, quoted in Time, May 17, 1976 “I favor the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and it must be enforced at the point of a bayonet, if necessary.” – Ronald Reagan, Los Angeles Times, October 20, 1965 “I would have voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” – Ronald Reagan, Los Angeles Times, June 17, 1966 “Today a newcomer to the state is automatically eligible for our many aid programs the moment he crosses the border.” – Ronald Reagan, in a speech announcing his candidacy for Governor, January 3, 1966. (In fact, immigrants to California had to wait five years before becoming eligible for benefits. Reagan acknowledged his error, but nine months later said exactly the same thing.) “…a faceless mass, waiting for handouts.” –…

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Today’s Quote-to-Quote on Ayn Rand’s Opinion of Democracy

January 30, 2011
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I wonder if the House ‘Budget Czar,’ Rep. Paul Ryan, who provided the Republican response to Obama’s SOTU January 23rd, understands his idol Ayn Rand wasn’t exactly enthralled with democracy? Maybe some member of our MSM will ask Ryan why he holds an anti-democratic elitist like Rand in such high regard? “Democracy, in short, is a form of collectivism, which denies individual rights: the majority can do whatever it wants with no restrictions. In principle, the democratic government is all-powerful. Democracy is a totalitarian manifestation; it is not a form of freedom.” – Ayn Rand, as quoted by Mark Ames. “The reason I got involved in public service, by and large, if I had to credit one thinker, one person, it would be Ayn Rand.” [...] “Rand makes the best case for the morality of democratic capitalism.” – Rep. Paul Ryan, praising Ayn Rand on two separate occasions, as quoted by Joshua Holland.

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Today’s Quote: Fear and Rage — the Hell Realm of the Right

January 15, 2011
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“What we have to understand here is that human beings are not discrete, individual entities, contrary to the free enterprise myth that people are competitive, individualistic, private entities. What people actually are are social creatures, very much dependent on one another and very much programmed to cooperate with one another when the circumstances are right.” [...] “In the Buddhists’ psychology, there are a number of realms that human beings cycle through, all of us. One is the human realm, which is our ordinary selves. The hell realm is that of unbearable rage, fear, you know, these emotions that are difficult to handle.” – Dr. Gabor Maté, from an interview with Amy Goodman of Democracy Now, by way of AlterNet.

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Today’s Quotes: The New Year

December 31, 2010
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“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.” – Alfred, Lord Tennyson, 1850. “New Year’s Day is [everyone's] birthday.” – Charles Lamb “New Year’s Day: Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions. Next week you can begin paving hell with them as usual.” – Mark Twain “A New Year’s resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.” – Author Unknown “Many years ago I resolved never to bother with New Year’s resolutions, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.” – Dave Beard “Making resolutions is a cleansing ritual of self-assessment and repentance that demands personal honesty and, ultimately, reinforces humility. Breaking them is part of the cycle.” – Eric Zorn “You’re lucky if you are graced with good resolutions and a bad memory.” – Elvin Morganfield “If our celebration of the New Year made any sense, it would start in spring when the flowers begin blooming and warm breezes return to the air, and our calendars would have months with an equal number of days in them. But, since we…

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