SMART REMARKS
Overheard this week from the corridors of power, the perches of predators, and the burrows of silent prey.
Old Timers who saw it coming
“When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Upton Sinclair
*
“Some great and glorious day the plain folks of this land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
H.L. Mencken
*
On judging the candidates by experience
“With all the sniping from the Clinton camp about whether Barack Obama has enough experience to make a strong president, consider another presidential candidate who was far more of a novice … served a single undistinguished term in the House before being hounded back to his district.
“That was Abraham Lincoln…
“Alternatively, look at the five presidents since 1900 with perhaps the most political experience when taking office: William McKinley, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and George H. W. Bush.”
Nicholas Kristof
*
How do you pronounce GOP?
“The GOP presidential field’s lack of demographic diversity by age, gender, ethnicity or even wardrobe, let alone race, is simply the leading indicator of how out of touch its brand has become.”
Frank Rich
*
A right-winger’s view of right wing collapse
“All the usual indicators are dismal for Republicans … Nov. 4 could be their most disagreeable day since Nov. 3, 1964. (That’s the day Barry Goldwater carried only four states. – Ed.)
George Will
*
Abhorrence of Arabia
“In Abu Dhabi, (Bush) marveled at the royal family’s plans to build a city based entirely upon renewable energy. ‘Amazing, isn’t it?’ W. said.
“You know you’re in trouble when your Middle East oil pump is greener than you are.”
Maureen Dowd
*
The three hundred million amigos
“Far from proving the killer app of 2008, illegal immigration is evaporating as a national cause. In the nearly identical findings of the NYT/CBS News and ABC News/Washington Post polls this month, it ranks near the bottom — the top issue for a mere 4 to 5 percent of voters. The economy (at 20 to 29 percent) leads in both surveys, closely followed by the total of those picking some variant of ‘war’ and ‘Iraq’.”
Frank Rich
*
On financiers who spend like drunken sailors:
“Actually, drunken sailors tend to spend their own money. By contemporary standards, they’re quite prudent.”
John Lanchester (London Review of Books)
*
Stubbornly repeating past mistakes is one definition of insanity
“Like Ronald Reagan, President Bush began his term in office with big tax cuts for the rich and promises that the benefits would trickle down to the middle class. Like Reagan, he also began his term with an economic slump, then claimed that the recovery from that slump proved the success of his policies.
“And like Reaganomics – but more quickly – Bushonomics has ended in grief.”
Paul Krugman
No Comments »
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>