Notable Quotables - 05/16/1988
May Day Labeling
"In Moscow, Soviet
leader Gorbachev led government dignitaries atop Lenin's mausoleum to watch
units parading in Red Square...In Havana...Cuban leader Fidel Castro's May Day
parade...was also generally peaceful. But in Chile, a country ruled by
military dictator Augusto Pinochet, demonstrators opposing his rule drew
police, tear gas and other riot control measures."
- World News Sunday anchor Sam Donaldson on May Day events, May 1.
The Economy
"I think we need to
pay particular attention to the type of legislation, put before Congress, put
there by people like Paul Simon calling for a guaranteed jobs program. We
can't wait for creation of jobs in the private sector."
- U. of Chicago sociologist William Julius Wilson during April 30 CBS
Evening News interview.
"Unemployment in
America in April was the lowest it's been in fourteen years, 5.4 percent.
That, coupled with other encouraging signs in the economy, is obviously good
news but, you guessed it, it may mean bad news in the form of higher
inflation."
- Tom Brokaw opening the NBC Nightly News, May 6.
"[It's] good news
for Republicans running for office. But there are some worries. At least one
fourth of the new jobs are part time only and 800,000 people are still looking
for work after more than six months."
- Reporter Sheilah Kast, ABC's World News Tonight.
"It wasn't good
news for the GOP either. Reminding voters that inflation and interest rates
were high under Jimmy Carter might ring hollow when the same thing could be
happening today."
- Reporter Jack Smith's This Week with David Brinkley introductory
story, May 15.
"The latest
unemployment figures promise to send shudders through the entire economy. As
inflation rises, so too will interest rates. Wall Street analysts are worried
that a recession is now unavoidable."
- Notable Quotables made this one up.
Poland
"Ironically, these
men and women are striking for the same thing Poland's leaders and Mikhail
Gorbachev want: the restructuring of a bankrupt economic system."
- CBS News reporter Bert Quint on reasons behind Solidarity's strikes, May 3.
Prime Time Comedy
"Science today is
just a tool in the hands of the superpowers. All they want to do are build
things like Star Wars and lasers and beam weapons in space...I have just come
to the realization that those people out there are using me, using me for
their evil ends. Well, I'm not going to have any part of it. I'm dropping
science from this point on."
- Physics whiz student "Dennis" on ABC's situation-comedy Head
of the Class, May 4.
Donald Regan
"I don't give a
damn about the right-to-lifers."
- Nancy Reagan, quoted by Donald Regan, in his book For the Record.
"Hell hath no fury
like a chief-of-staff scorned."
- Bernard Kalb, on CNN's Crossfire, May 9.
"And listen, while
you're laughing, a lot of people smarter than us go for this [astrology]
stuff. And how does this differ from crossing yourself before a foul
shot?"
- Phil Donahue during show with Regan as guest, May 11.
Presidential Reading
"One of the
differences between Reagan and the Vice-President emerged from those morning
discussions: Reagan generally recited passages from the conservative Washington
Times, while Bush usually quoted the New York Times. This is a
big difference."
- Don Regan on page 275.
"Reagan was an avid
reader of the conservative monthly Human Events....I began to read
this publication, which had not hitherto been on my required reading
list."
- Don Regan on the conservative weekly.
Ollie North
"Today I am out of
work for the first time in a quarter of a century. I must say as I look at all
the media gathered here in front of us, it's nice to see the attention they're
paying to the plight of the unemployed."
- Oliver North delivering Liberty University commencement, May 2.
"I don't believe
we've got any badges or decorations that go with the fruit salad on your
uniform. We don't have one for lying to Congress. We don't have one for
altering documents."
- U.S. Rep. Jack Brooks (D-TX) on the CBS Evening News.
Anti-U.S. Sentiments
"Why this sea of
troubles? One reason is the old American tendency to ignore the Canadians,
belittle the Mexicans, and invest in the armies of Central America. Another
reason is that diplomacy has been replaced in recent years by sloganeering and
belligerence. Instead of making deals with the Sandinistas, the President said
he wanted them to cry uncle."
- John Chancellor on why anti-U.S. feelings are on the increase. NBC
Nightly News, May 3.
Nicaragua
Pat Buchanan: "What
I want to know about you is why you are not as concerned about the freedom of
Nicaraguans as you were about the freedom of Frenchmen?"
Tom Braden:
"Because our civilization depended on winning World War II, and this is a
tin-horn, chicken-shack country."
- Exchange on CNN's Crossfire, May 2.
George Bush
"We've had
triumphs, we've made mistakes, we've had sex...setbacks"
- George Bush on what he and Ronald Reagan have been through, May 11.
- 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
