Notable Quotables - 05/15/1989
North Trial
"Just the first of
several criminal trials with their roots in concerns that a secret clique of
ideological zealots may have run policy and operations outside the American
constitutional system of checks and balances."
- Dan Rather on CBS News Special Report, May 4.
"That's what they
were: a small group of powerful people with an abiding distrust of the
democratic process, unwilling to let the public's view get in the way of their
own."
- USA Today editorial.
"Whether it's in
the White House, or it's in Central Park, the American people don't want to
tolerate wilding, and that's what those guys did. They mugged the U.S.
Constitution...Ollie North... should serve time."
- Former Washington Post reporter Martin Schram on CNN's Capital
Gang, May 6.
Jury of Peers
"He was guilty, but
I don't think he should go to jail for it."
- Juror Earl Williams on May 4 CBS Special Report.
"Well, personally,
I feel that if he's guilty, he should go to jail."
- Earl Williams on Good Morning America, next day.
National Parks
"Last summer's
devastating forest fires focused national attention on Yellowstone Park. But
environmentalists believe the greatest damage had already been done - by the
Reagan Administration."
- Opening of May 9 Frontline on PBS.
NATO
"After 40 years of
dealing with the Soviet military threat, NATO must now come to grips with the
idea of peace."
- Reporter Bob Zelnick on ABC's World News Tonight, April 20.
"There have been
suggestions that President Bush could help - by leading the search for
compromise rather than following the Thatcher hard line."
- Reporter Arthur Kent on West Germany's resistance to new missiles, April 30
NBC Nightly News.
Guts and Glory
"If he had broken a
law to save a grove of trees, or the snail darter, or something, everyone in
show business, all my friends, would be, 'let this guy go.' You know? But
because he was a hawk, they're against him. But I tell you in middle America
you know, just as soon as you get over the Hollywood Hills into the San
Fernando Valley, and all the way to Long Island before you go into Manhattan,
they love him."
- Actor David Keith, who played Oliver North in the CBS movie Guts and
Glory, on Movietime, April 29.
Economy
"Yes, one economist
agreed, the economy is on a magic carpet ride. The problem, he went on, is
that no one knows when we're going to fall off."
- Reporter Bob Faw concluding an April 28 CBS Evening News story.
Afghanistan
"As rockets made in
the U.S.A. keep falling here and flares to deflect those rockets keep burning
small children, resentment towards the United States grows...For the Russians,
Afghanistan may no longer be what Gorbachev called, 'a bleeding wound.' But
for many here what is bleeding now is America's image."
- Reporter Bob Faw on the May 1 CBS Evening News.
Margaret Thatcher
"Mrs. Thatcher has
proved to be an Iron Lady at home and abroad....And in the process, she
converted 10 Downing Street into what's been described as an elective
dictatorship."
- John Laurence on ABC's World News Tonight, May 3.
Education Spending
"Where's
Washington's hand in all this? Where are the new programs we need? Where are
the new monies we need? Where is the aggressive approach we need?"
- Bryant Gumbel to Education Secretary Cavazos on Today, May 3.
"The critics may
have to explain why, if money is the solution, the U.S. has a problem. This
country already spends more per student on education than any country on
earth."
- Brit Hume on ABC's World News Tonight, April 5.
Abortion
"The true
conservative who believes government has little or no right to invade private
lives, should absolutely support the original Roe vs. Wade decision."
- CNN and Mutual Broadcasting talk show host Larry King in USA Today,
May 1.
Judy Woodruff:
"Judge Bork, you have argued, you've said that it is better to settle
cases like this, in a legislative body rather than in the courts. Why is it
better to take a question, a controversial question like abortion, we saw,
again today the public opinion polls show great division among the American
people on this, why is it better to put it in the legislature?"
Robert Bork:
"You're asking me why is self-government better than rule by an
authoritarian body."
- Exchange on MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour, April 28.
Captain Planet
"Captain Planet
follows the adventure of five youngsters from five continents who have been
assembled by Gaia, the Spirit of the Earth, to save the planet. Helping them
in their mission is 'Captain Planet,' a super-hero who uses the power of
nature itself - including the unstoppable force of the earthquake, the
irresistible onslaught of the tidal wave, the flight of the eagle and the
electrifying shock of a lightning bolt. Among the threats they will face
together are overpopulation, global warming, toxic waste, acid rain and the
depletion of endangered species."
- From April 11 Turner Broadcasting System announcement of a new cartoon
series.
Headline of the Month
"K.G.B. Is Seeking
a Friendlier, More Upbeat Image"
- New York Times, May 7.
- L. Brent
Bozell III; Publisher
- Brent H. Baker, Tim Graham; Editors
- Jim Heiser, Richard Marois, Patrick Swan, Dorothy Warner; Media Analysts
- Cynthia Bulman; Administrative Assistant
