Notable Quotables - 05/13/1991
Defeat from Victory
"U.S. policy
collapsed on March 19, 1989, when the Salvadoran people elected Alfredo
Cristiani, a coffee oligarch and presidential standard-bearer of the
neo-Fascist Arena party, in a landslide victory."
- New York Times State Department correspondent Clifford Krauss in
his new book, Inside Central America.
Sandinista Achievements
"[Oliver North] and the Reagan Administration placed the United States in the role of a cruel bully, waging a dirty war to defend security interests that even its closest allies did not believe were truly threatened....
"Sandinista leaders
could claim other successes as well. They encouraged Nicaraguans to take pride
in their nationality and their heritage. They destroyed the rigid class
structure that had confined Nicaraguans since time immemorial. And their
policies, however misguided, were based on the premise that government's
greatest responsibility was to the poor and dispossessed."
- Stephen Kinzer, former aide to Michael Dukakis and New York Times
Central America reporter during the 1980s, in his new book, Blood
Brothers: Life and War in Nicaragua.
Gorby's Goons or Considerate Commies?
"Soviets looted
safes, took embassy disks, U.S. says"
- Washington Times, May 3
"State Dept. Denies
Security Compromised in Moscow Fire"
- Washington Post, same day
Sununu the Slasher
"I think there's a
certain amount of hypocrisy evident here in that these are some very expensive
trips to Vail and to New Hampshire and other places by a man who has been
known as the slasher where domestic spending for the needs of the society are
concerned."
- Oakland Tribune Editor Robert Maynard on ABC's This Week with
David Brinkley, April 28.
Papal Infallibility
"PAPAL ENCYCLICAL
URGES CAPITALISM TO SHED INJUSTICES"
- New York Times, May 3
"Free market gets
pope's blessing"
- Washington Times, same day
Gun Control Common Sense
"In the end gun
control, and certainly the Brady bill, should not be taken hostage by an
absolutist one size fits all reading of the Second Amendment of the
Constitution. Before it was written, you'll recall, the founding fathers were
already articulating what makes this nation special. In 1776 one of them,
Thomas Paine, described it simply as 'Common Sense,' which pretty well
describes the case for gun control today."
- NBC Nightly News anchor Garrick Utley, April 28.
Israel the Oppressor
"For many in the
U.S., the Palestinian problem changed the perception of Israel, from a young
idealistic democracy to an armed camp, from a nation of victims to a nation of
oppressors, from David to Goliath."
- CNN reporter Mark Feldstein on the April 23 CNN Evening News.
Looking at the Positive Side
"A decision by the
Pentagon today that could cost thousands of jobs in Newport News, Virginia.
The Navy has picked General Dynamics to build its new, two billion dollar
Seawolf submarine in Groton, Connecticut."
- Peter Jennings on World News Tonight, May 3.
Saving Us From Conservatives
"Nancy Reagan was
the epitome of her time, of its pious values and grasping mores; she was den
mother to an era of materialistic dementia....[Kelley] might have written more
about Mrs. Reagan's positive points: her political shrewdness, her utility as
a hatchetwoman for her personable husband, her tempering of his more
Neanderthal tendencies."
- New York Times White House reporter Maureen Dowd on Kitty Kelley's
book, May 13 New Republic.
"[Nancy Reagan's] intrusions in the privy councils were essential in rescuing the faltering ruler from the consequences of his own foolishness. Without the statecraft of the dominatrix, Reagan's presidency probably would have been doomed to disgrace....The conservative movement that marked the cold war's onset by demonizing Alger Hiss was undone at its end by Nancy Reagan. Her apostasy was ultimately justified by the redemption of her husband. She had to destroy the conservatives in order to save him....
"Her low opinions
of James Watt, William Casey, and Caspar Weinberger were discounted, and they
were all appointed; the results were embarrassment, scandal, and
insolvency."
- Former Washington Post reporter Sidney Blumenthal in the May 13 New
Republic.
Castro's Welfare Wonderland
"If nothing else,
the Cuban revolution has eliminated abject need. The cost may be generalized
poverty and zero political pluralism, but, even with shortages, there is no
starvation here. Education and medical care are assured for all. And, unlike
in most of Latin America, you don't see naked or even shoeless children in the
streets. When Castro speaks of the need to defend the gains of revolution, he
means a level of social welfare rare in the underdeveloped world."
- Washington Post Assistant Foreign Editor Don Podesta, April 28
"Outlook" article.
SDI Helped or Hindered?
"'Star wars' gets a
boost at a hearing"
- Boston Globe, April 17
"Effectiveness of
Patriot Missile Questioned"
- Washington Post, same day
Nobody's Laughing, They're Checking Their Wallets
"Don't laugh at
comedian Andy Valvur's fantasy: I want George Bush to interrupt the Lakers-Knicks
game to tell me that, effective immediately, he is instituting a national
health care program and that he knows that the American people are with him
and understand why we have to take this drastic action."
- Former Boston Globe Editor Thomas Winship in Editor &
Publisher, April 6.
Kissing Kitty
"My personal
opinion regarding the Kitty Kelly book. I though it was a good read. You know,
I know it's not popular to say these days, but I'm one of those people who
generally has liked Kitty's writing in the past. I know of the research she
does."
- Today co-host Bryant Gumbel on CNN's Larry King Live,
April 24.
One More Way the U.S. Ruined Panama
"The Panamanian
government, says [a government official], has neither the political will nor
the resources to stop the massive deforestation which was accelerated by the
U.S. invasion of Panama. Many Panamanians who were burned out of their homes
say they had no choice but to move to federal reserves to grow food they can't
afford to buy in the cities."
- ABC's John Quinones, April 21 World News Tonight.
- L. Brent Bozell III;
Publisher
- Brent H. Baker, Tim Graham; Editors
- Nicholas Damask, Sally Hood, Marian Kelley, Tim Lamer; Media Analysts
- Jennifer Hardebeck; Circulation Manager
