The Best of Notable Quotables; December 23, 1991
Table of Contents:
- The Best of Notable Quotables; December 23, 1991
- Gomer Pyle Award
- Peter Arnett Award
- Iron Curtain Award
- Gulf War
- Media Hero Award
- Willie Horton Award
- Damn Conservatives
- Armand Hammer Award
- Real Reagan Legacy
- Long Dong Silver Award
- Thurgood Marshall Award
- Borking Award
- Wilson-Weicker Award
- Which Way Is It?
- Silliest Analysis
- Quote of the Year
- 1991 Award Judges
Thurgood Marshall Award (for Judicial Activism)
“The
genius of the Constitution is that it sides with the citizen against
the state. That’s why it’s such a worldwide success. But toda’'s Supreme
Court tends to favor the state over the citizen.... In this Supreme
Court, the state wins more often than the citizens. Something to keep in
mind when they give you the old malarkey about the Court being true to
the spirit of the Constitution. This Court isn’t.”
– NBC commentator and former anchor John Chancellor, July 23 Nightly News.
Runners-up:
“What
was astonishing here was not that the Court opposes abortion. What was
astonishing was its absurd view that medical personnel paid with
government money lose their right to free speech. The Constitution says
no law shall abridge freedom of speech, no law. Could it be that the
Court hasn’t read that part? ....Was [David Souter] able and willing to
read the Constitution as a member of the Court? Would he abide by it?
Well, now we know the answer. It’s no.”
– David Brinkley ending ABC’s
This Week, May 26.
“Under Rehnquist, the Supreme Court no longer
sees itself as the defender of civil rights and civil liberties, the
champion of the individual. Gone is the Court majority that breathed new
life into the Bill of Rights, dismantled Southern segregation,
disciplined police who violated the rights of citizens, removed religion
from the public schools, pushed a President into resignation, and swept
aside the laws forbidding women to end their pregnancies.”
– Los
Angeles Times Supreme Court reporter David Savage in the Los Angeles
Times Magazine, September 29.
“On the same day major groups
announced their opposition, Thomas’ friends from Georgia showed up on
Capitol Hill. But Thomas has taken controversial positions, such as
suggesting that natural laws may supersede individual rights.”
– NBC congressional reporter Andrea Mitchell, September 9 Nightly News.
