Political Quotes

[Pathless]

From an interview with wild, free-wheelin', liberated, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, about the collapse of the World Trade Center buildings:

Mick O'Regan: You went on to say in that article, which I have in front of me, that "even ESPN was broadcasting war news. It was the worst disaster in the history of the United States." Do you think that the event completely transformed the way in which Americans see themselves and their own vulnerability?

Hunter S. Thompson: No, the event by itself wouldn't have done that. But it was the way the Administration was able to use that event. Even use it as a springboard for everything they wanted to do. And that might tell you something. I remember when I was writing that column you sort of wonder when something like that happens, Well who stands to benefit? Who had the opportunity and the motive? You just kind of look at these basic things, and I don?t know if I want to go into this on worldwide radio here, but ...

Mick O'Regan: You may as well.

Hunter S. Thompson: All right. Well I saw that the US government was going to benefit, and the White House people, the republican administration to take the mind of the public off of the crashing economy. Now you want to keep in mind that every time a person named Bush gets into office, the nation goes into a drastic recession they call it.

Mick O'Regan: It seems a very long bow to me, but are you sort of suggesting that this worked in the favour of the Bush Administration?

Hunter S. Thompson: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. And I have spent enough time on the inside of, well in the White House and you know, campaigns and I've known enough people who do these things, think this way, to know that the public version of the news or whatever event, is never really what happened.

[Pathless]

“The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.”

--Malcolm X

[Pathless]

"The second book followed on the first, in that it was a broad analysis of what I called our military-based empire, an empire of 737 American military bases in over 130 countries around the world. That number is the official Pentagon count. They are genuine military bases. They're very extensive. They are not, as some defenders of the Pentagon like to say, just Marine guards. We haven't got 700 embassies around the world."

--Chalmers Johnson (referring at the beginnng of the quote to a series of books he has written: Blowback, The Sorrows of the Empire, and Nemesis)

[Pathless]

"Who are we and who's responsible for what we've become? America is us, and we're responsible for what we've become. If we answer in any other way, we're content to have others define us--even others who have proven to us that they can't be trusted."

--Former congresswoman Cynthia McKinney

[Pathless]

"I have a theory that the truth is never told during the nine-to-five hours."

--Hunter S. Thompson

[Pathless]

"Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves."

—William Pitt the Younger

[Pathless]

"We must be fully conscious. We must support oppressed people around the world. Starving and sick people. We must recognize that our grandchildren have little hope for stable, sustainable, and peaceful lives unless every child on every continent has equal reasons for hope."

--John Perkins

[Pathless]

"I feel like a bit of an ass, dominating this thread, but oh well."

--Pathless

And now for the actual quote:

"As citizen-diplomats of the world, we send peace as conscious expression where ever, whenever and to whomever it is needed: to the Middle East, to the Israelis and the Palestinians, to the Pakistanis and the Indians, to Americans and Al Queda, and to the people of Iraq, and to all those locked in deadly combat. And we fly to be with the bereft, with those on the brink, to listen compassionately, setting aside judgment and malice to become peacemakers, to intervene, to mediate, to bring ourselves back from the abyss, to bind up the world's wounds."

--Dennis Kucinich

[Pathless]

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent."

--Thomas Jefferson

[Pathless]

“So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, make beautiful all things in your life.”

--Tecumseh

[InLove]

"I feel like a bit of an ass, dominating this thread, but oh well."

I enjoy reading the quotes, Pathless. I especially liked that last one. Edit: Not the one in this post here, lol. Tecumseh's. (Thought I'd better clarify a little--sorry.)

InPeace,
InLove

[Pathless]

Glad you are enjoying the thread, InLove. Know any good quotes?

Thanks for clarifying. Although if you wanted more quotes about me being an ass, I'm sure I could write some more.

[Pathless]

And they just keep rolllllin' in, folks!!!

"The truth will set you free. But first it will piss you off."

--Gloria Steinem

[InLove]

Originally Posted by Tecumseh

Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing a friend,
Even a stranger, when in a lonely place. Show respect to all people and
Bow to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and
For the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks,
The fault lies only in yourself. Abuse no one and nothing,
For abuse turns the wise ones to fools and robs the spirit of its vision.

I don't know how "political" this is, but it seems like a worthwhile policy.

I have a struggle with the part that says, "Bow to none". But I contemplate it.

InPeace,
InLove

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Pathless

"I feel like a bit of an ass, dominating this thread, but oh well."

--Pathless

Yeah, cut it out.

s.