The Best of Notable Quotables; December 25, 1989
Table of Contents:
- The Best of Notable Quotables; December 25, 1989
- Silliest Analysis
- Good News Is Bad News
- The Economy
- Blame America First
- Media Hero
- Foreign Affairs
- Joe Isuzu
- Damn Conservatives
- American Politics
- Most Honest Confession
- Real Ronald Reagan
- Real Jimmy Carter
- No Agenda Here
- Walter Mondale Award
- Most Insane Comparison
- Quote of the Year
Media Hero Award
"A
testament to courage: the courage of some unabashed trade unionists and
civil rights workers, Leftists and yes, American Communists, who fought
for principles that we now take for granted."
-- Endorsement of Carl
Bernstein’s book Loyalties, from Ted Koppel.
Runners-Up:
"Ralph
Nader is a legend, perhaps the only universally recognized symbol of
pure honesty and clean energy left in a culture that, after being shot
through with greed, cynicism and weariness, is oddly proud of its
hardened self. Two decades after he slew General Motors, Nader, the
young dynamo who could not be bought, is a reminder of what we once
hoped to be."
-- Washington Post Magazine writer Marc Fisher, July 23.
"What
does realistic mean with Mr. Gorbachev any more? We used to know what
realism was in world affairs, but we have a Soviet leader as bold as we,
I think, have ever seen, and a man who seems to be some kind of
dreamer. He dreams new dreams. I think he’s saying ‘Match me in boldness
and we’ll create a new world.’"
-- "CBS News consultant" Stephen Cohen
on the CBS Evening News, October 24.
"He [George Mitchell] talks
about the record of legislation the Senate Democrats are building, the
substantive progress on issues from oil spills to rural development,
which so often gets overlooked in the day-to-day political analysis of
‘up or down, winner or loser.’ His logic is crisp, unassailable, his
manner far removed from the thrust and parry of contemporary politics.
He is the soul of judiciousness, highminded in his concern for
governance. But some in his party would like for a bit more of the
street fighter."
-- Reporter Robin Toner in The New York Times, October
17.
"For Gorbachev at the end of four years, it is the best of
times, it is the worst of times. There was triumph at the Moscow summit,
when cold warrior Ronald Reagan said the Evil Empire belonged to a time
now past. Bittersweet triumph when the Soviet troops came home from
Afghanistan. The Soviets did not win, but Gorbachev did. He had the
courage to end Soviet involvement."
-- CBS reporter Barry Petersen on the March 11 Evening News.
