Quotes

“To the U.S. Army who are leaving northeast Syria, tell your children that the children of the Kurds were killed by the Turks and you did nothing to protect them.” — Sign held aloft to fleeing US troops in Syria, Kurds Confront Exiting U.S. Troops In Syria With Heartbreaking Signs. ***** “President Erdoğan and President Trump, you know, they buried the hatchet — they buried right in the back of the Kurds.” — Admiral James Stavridis (Ret.), Morning Joe (10/17/19) ***** “I earned my spurs on the battlefield; Donald Trump earned his spurs from the doctor.” — General James Mattis (Ret.), Jim Mattis…

“Vice President Pence is the Ivanka Trump of the vice presidency. He expects us to be appreciative of the fact that he’s working within this administration on behalf of the people, but in moments of consequence he disappears. In moments of scandal, he suggests he knows nothing about it. He and Ivanka are complicit. She hides behind her $5,000 dresses and $10,000 bags,  Vice President Mike Pence has mastered hiding behind this professed evangelical humility. Neither one are credible.” — Former Florida Republican Rep. Dave Jolly, Ex-GOP lawmaker calls for impeachment hearings on Pence and Barr in scorching attack on Trump…

“I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country’s most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism.” — Major General Smedely Butler, two time winner of the Medal of Honor, “War Is A Racket”. ***** “Maybe it’s overly optimistic of me to think this matters, but when…

“This present window of opportunity, during which a truly peaceful and an interdependent world order might be be built, will not be open too long — we are on the verge of a global transformation. All we need is the right major crisis and the nations will accept the New World Order.” — David Rockefeller ***** “You can’t change a corrupt system by taking its money.” — Sen. Bernie Sanders ***** “F*ck it, let’s roll.” — Rick Wilson, GOP strategist Rick Wilson lays out case for impeachment in hilariously profane new rant. ***** “Depopulation should be the highest priority of foreign…

“I think we have to face the truth that no one seems to want to admit. This is no longer a case of excessive narcissism or grandiosity. We’re not simply dealing with an unusually large ego. The president of the United States is seriously, frighteningly, dangerously unstable. And he’s getting worse by the day.” — Robert Reich, Trump is seriously, frighteningly unstable – the world is in danger. ***** “We have to grasp, as Marx and Adam Smith did, that corporations are not concerned with the common good. They exploit, pollute, impoverish, repress, kill, and lie to make money. They throw…

“Whether or not his disorders are diagnosable, the president’s psychological flaws are all too apparent. They were alarming when he took the oath of office; they are worse now. Every day Donald Trump is president is a day of disgrace. And a day of danger.” — Peter Weher, Trump Is Not Well. ***** “He pisses ice water.” — Roy Cohn’s assessment of his protege, Donald Trump. ***** “We’ve become now an oligarchy instead of a democracy. And I think that’s been the worst damage to the basic moral and ethical standards of the American political system that I’ve ever seen in…

“‘The middle’ is a fairytale for Democrats who want to believe it can save us from Trump, and a lie conservatives need to stop us from fighting for what’s best for Americans. But we don’t have time for fantasies, and the stakes are too high to let Republicans tell us what to talk about and what to fight for.” — Jessica Valenti, No Country for Old Moderates ***** “A new generation will have to adapt the old playbook to new challenges. Industrial capitalism’s basic structure is changing. As Shoshona Zuboff has argued in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, the rise of surveillance…

“The few who tried to plant a flag on their opposition to socialism are passing from the scene. It’s as if Democratic voters have been thirsting for progressive proposals for decades, and now they will drink as much as can be offered.” — Max B. Sawicky, The Sunset of Neoliberalism ***** “If we embrace a far-left agenda, they’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. If we embrace a conservative agenda, you know what they’re going to do? They’re going to say we’re a bunch of crazy socialists. So let’s just stand up for the right policy, go out there, and…

  “There’s nothing in the middle of the road but yellow stripes and dead armadillos.”  — Jim Hightower ***** “Jill Biden may have settled for her husband, but I’m not sure why anyone else should.” — Sarah Jones, columnist, New York Magazine. ***** “The nation is still reeling from two mass shootings. The financial markets are yo-yoing by hundreds of points. A bomb in Afghanistan, where we’re still at war, killed 63 revelers at a wedding. Tension between the United States and Iran continues to mount. North Korea keeps testing new missiles. India is playing with fire in Kashmir. Hong…

“Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) introduced a bill to get rid of all gun-free zones in schools. If he believes gun-free zones are the problems, he will get rid of the gun-free zone around the U.S. Capitol and House and Senate office buildings. Instead, he too hides behind his gun-free zone.” — Sarah K. Burris, Here are the top 7 places hypocritical Republicans won’t let you take a gun. ***** “Gun control has paralyzed 535 people this year — they’re called the United States Congress.” — Bill Maher (8/9/19) ***** “By 6:01 p.m., after just a little more than two hours, he…

“If the soul is left in darkness, sins will be committed. The guilty one is not he who commits the sin, but the one who causes the darkness.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables ***** “It is time for us to simply realize that this country will not heal — all that a country is a collection of people — people heal when there’s deep truth-telling,” Marianne Williamson said. “We need to recognize when it comes to the economic gap between blacks and whites in America, it does come from a great injustice that has never been dealt with. That great injustice has…

“Dear America: You are waking up, as Germany once did, to the awareness that 1/3 of your people would kill another 1/3, while 1/3 watches.” — Werner Herzog  tweet ***** “I decided not to dwell on it, and just do my job.” — ProPublica, A Border Patrol Agent Reveals What It’s Really Like to Guard Migrant Children. ***** “I used to work in US intelligence advising presidents on risk. The biggest threat to our country today is the Republican Party.” — Paul Nailer, The Independent (7/18/19) ***** “We need to go to the future,” she says. “Why is he so popular?…

  “The worst enemy of life, freedom and the common decencies is total anarchy; their second worst enemy is total efficiency.” — Aldous Huxley ***** “Planet Before Profit” — Extinction Rebellion UK protest banner ***** “Liberal democracy organizes society around respect for the dignity, equality and freedom of all human beings. Fascism, by contrast, organizes society around the vilification of outsiders. In this administration’s rhetoric toward undocumented immigrants from Central America and religious minorities, we have been subject to classic fascist tropes for some time. “ — Jason Stanley, author of “How Fascism Works”. ***** “What he did to me is…

  “There’s a direct relationship between the ballot box and the bread box, and what the union fights for and wins at the bargaining table can be taken away in the legislative halls.” — Walter Reuther, President of the UAW ***** “Pity the nation whose people are sheep/And whose shepherds mislead them/Pity the nation whose leaders are liars/Whose sages are silenced/And whose bigots haunt the airwaves/Pity the nation that raises not its voice/Except to praise conquerers/And acclaim the bully as hero.” — Lawrence Ferlinghetti ***** “Our nation is operating concentration camps for refugee children. We need to stop denying that and…

“Power doesn’t corrupt; it reveals.” — Gabriel Sherman, CABLE IS ABOUT ONE THING: NICHE”: HOW TRUMP BECAME TRAPPED IN ROGER AILES’S WORLD (6/27/19) ***** “Climate change shapes every other political question. It does not belong on a laundry list of topics, because we can’t build a better world without a livable planet.” — Thea N. Riofrancost, The Democratic Debates Showcased the Most Dangerous Form of Climate Denial (In These Time 6/28/19) ***** “We have a press which thinks that covering both “sides” of a debate is more important than divining the truth behind the debate.  Balance has replaced accuracy, truth, data, and facts…

“No one’s standard of living will change. Nothing would fundamentally change.” — Joe Biden, Joe Biden Promises Rich Donors He Won’t ‘Demonize’ The Wealthy If Elected President (6/19/19) ***** “If you are  right-wing populist, you can beat a corporate Democrat. Scott Walker did it three times here.” — David Poklinkoski, president of IBEW Local 2304 from, “The Fall Of Wisconsin: The Conservative Conquest Of A Progressive Bastion And The Future Of American Politics” (2018) p.186. ***** “There are a lot of reasons to why the middle class is collapsing. Certainly the anti-union efforts on the part of corporate America have been significant,…

“If you don’t know where you’re going, all roads will lead you there.” — Lewis Carrol ***** “To make matters worse, the DNC has refused to host a climate debate and announced that it will bar from the debate stage any candidates participating in one in another venue. In censoring a serious discussion of climate, the DNC aligns itself with President Trump’s anti-climate agenda.” — Alison Rose Levy, The DNC Strategy Will Defeat Climate Voters, Not Trump (TruthOut 6/16/19) ***** “We’re not protecting our children. If you can’t learn from the past, it’s going to continue happening.” — Flo Rice, substitute teacher who was wounded…

“No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue in this country.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1933. ***** “I don’t want to be the America of 10 years back or 20 years back or 30 years back. I want to build a better America and I think this is our moment to do that.” — Sen. Elizabeth Warren ***** “Last year, Americans spent more than $80 billion playing state lotteries. That’s around $250 for each citizen, more than what was spent on concerts, sporting events and movie tickets combined….

“Wake up & smell the covfefe!!!” — Protest sign at anti-Trump London protest. ***** “You said that your investigation’s work ‘speaks for itself.’ It doesn’t.” — Robert De Niro, “Robert De Niro’s Open Letter To Robert Mueller: ‘Leave Your Comfort Zone’ And Testify” ***** “Snit Hits The Fan” — New York Daily News headline over latest Trump breakdown. ***** “The entire foreign policy is based on a single unstable individual’s reaction to perceptions of slights or flattery. If someone says something nice about him, they are our friend; if they say something unkind, if they don’t kiss the ring, they…

“Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.” — George Carlin ***** “Democrats who are reluctant to impeach might want to take note of the reaction from voters in Republican Justin Amash’s district.” — John Nichols, “Optimism is a political act. Those who benefit from the status quo are perfectly happy for us to think nothing is going to get any better. In fact, these days, cynicism is obedience.” — Alex Steffen, The Bright Green City ***** “The crusade for the unborn fires up Christian zealots and anti-abortion fanatics with righteous indignation that can lead to violence. It…

  “I don’t know why. They ‘trust me’. Dumb fucks.” — Mark Zuckerberg replying to a friend in the early days of Facebook on why people were signing up in droves. Business Insider (5/13/10) ***** “Ignore the religious rhetoric and moral posturing about abortion. This debate is not about the sanctity of life. It is about corporate capitalists who desperately need more bodies and intend to coerce women to produce them.” — Chris Hedges, “The Abortion Debate Is Not About The Sanctity Of Life — It’s About Corporate Capitalism” (5/20/19) ***** “There is always more misery among the lower classes than…

  “When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” — Frederic Bastait ***** “We cannot, we simply cannot, have a presidency that is run as if it were a king or dictator.” — House Oversight Committee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) ***** “Of course, to stay, you must be seen as on his team, so you make further compromises. You use his language, praise his leadership, tout his commitment to values. And then…

“Hell is empty, and all the devils are here.” — William Shakespeare, The Tempest, Act 1, Scene 2 ***** “Real power is — I don’t even want to use the word — fear.” — Donald J. Trump, – Bob Woodward’s, Fear: Trump In The White House ***** “If I’m still the majority leader of the Senate after next year, none of those things are going to pass the Senate. They won’t even be voted on. So think of me as the grim reaper.” — Sen. Mitch McConnell on a 2020 progressive legislative agenda . ***** “When the history of Trump’s presidency…

  “If we had confidence after a thorough investigation of the facts that the President clearly did not commit obstruction of justice, we would so state.” — From the Mueller Report: Here are 11 key lines from the Mueller report. ***** “Mueller’s quote of Trump, when first learning a special counsel had been appointed – “Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my presidency. I’m fucked” – has already become a national tagline. Why, Americans wonder, would Trump be “fucked” if he hadn’t done something so awful as to cause its revelation to “fuck” him?” —…

“Being honest may not get you a lot of friends but it’ll always get you the right ones.” — John Lennon ***** “Since 2001, every American taxpayer has spent almost $24,000 on the wars — equal to the average down payment on a house, a new Honda Accord, or a year at a public university.” — Mind Unleashed, We Have Spent $32 Million Per Hour on War Since 2001, (3/25/19) ***** “So long as the fundamental structures of the economy remain unchanged, state action will disproportionately benefit capitalist interests at the expense of everything else.” —   “The ABCs of Socialism”…

“Stop trying to navigate systems of power and start building your own party.” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ***** “A basic principle of modern state capitalism is that costs and risks are socialized to the extent possible, while profit is privatized.” – Noam Chomsky ***** “This country has socialism for the rich, rugged individualism for the poor.” – The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ***** “Everyone believes in the atrocities of the enemy and disbelieves in those of his own side, without ever bothering to examine the evidence.” — George Orwell, “Looking Back on the Spanish War” ***** “In these…

  “The great enemy of freedom is the alignment of political power with wealth. This alignment destroys the commonwealth – that is, the natural wealth of localities and the local economies of household, neighborhood, and community – and so destroys democracy, of which the commonwealth is the foundation and practical means.” ― Wendell Berry ***** “Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” ― Eric Hoffer, The Temper of Our Time ***** “In October 1964 in the state of Mississippi, the civil rights movement suffered fifteen killings, four woundings, thirty-seven churches bombed or burned, and…