Notable Quotables - 08/07/1989
Sandinista Success Stories
"The Sandinistas
brought with them Marxist ideas about spreading wealth and creating a new,
unselfish society. And in the first few years, they did manage to reduce
illiteracy, the infant death rate and launched the biggest land reform in
Central America. But the Reagan Administration saw the Sandinistas as a threat
and forced them into a war with the U.S.-backed Contras."
- Reporter Peter Collins on ABC's World News Tonight, July 19.
"Sandinista critics
direct predictions of totalitarianism have also failed to come
true...Nicaragua today is neither a classless social democracy nor a communist
dungeon. Opposition parties and media thrive, despite Sandinista harassment
and their own incompetence....And a government socially committed to the needs
of the poorest has seen its education and health projects plummet due to a
lack of resources and the Contra war."
- J.D. Gannon in the Christian
Science Monitor, July 18.
"But on the 10th
anniversary of this revolution, it seems only fair to return to the basics.
This government, in contrast to its Washington backed neighbor, El Salvador,
has from the start had its heart in the right place. The Sandinistas have
dedicated their lives to making life better for the wretched, rather than
richer for the greedy."
- Boston Globe editorial writer Randolph Ryan, July 19.
Economy
"Economy slows,
sparks recession fear
- Boston Globe, July 28.
"Economic Growth in
2nd Quarter Slowed To 1.7% Rate, Easing Fears of Inflation"
- Wall Street Journal, same day.
Ralph Nader
"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.
Great Society
"President Reagan
accentuated the mood in his State of the Union address in 1988. 'My friends,'
he declared, 'some years ago the federal government declared war on poverty,
and poverty won.' Yet these kinds of glib judgments about Great Society do not
always hold up under the light of evidence. The Great Society comprised so
many programs that it is not easy to assess whether it worked or not...The
definite failures are few."
- Los Angeles Times reporter Stanley Meisler, July 14.
Diane Sawyer
"Once I got a card
at 60 Minutes that said, 'You are a brazen right-wing hussy,' she
recalls, 'I was able to write back and say, I'm not right-wing.'"
- Diane Sawyer in The Washington Post, August 2.
Ted Turner
"Being called a
'bozo' by Ted Turner is like being called 'ugly' by a toad."
- Susan Smith of the National Right to Life Committee interviewed in USA
Today, July 20.
The New York Times Versus The Washington Times
"I don't take The
Washington Times seriously as a journalistic entity, so I view with
suspicion almost anything that they do."
- New York Times Washington Bureau Chief Howell Raines, quoted in
the August 1 Washington Post.
Ortega's Re-election: Two Versions
"I think...that the
Sandinistas, if there were to be an election right now, Ortega would
win."
- Reporter Doug Tunnell on CBS Sunday Morning, July 23.
"La Prensa
published Monday the results of a poll of 1,200 Nicaraguans that showed 61
percent answering 'No' when asked if they favored six more years of rule by
the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Twenty-eight percent said
they favored the FSLN."
- Peter LaBarbera in The Washington Times, July 20.
Book on Reagan Presidency
"The Acting
President: Ronald Reagan and the Supporting Players Who Helped Him Create the
Illusion That Held America Spellbound"
- by Bob Schieffer, CBS News Chief
Washington Correspondent, and Gary Paul Gates, co-author of The Palace
Guard
Lesley Stahl's Budget Solution
"We have this drug
problem, we have an education problem in the country. All we keep doing is
cutting the domestic budget because taxes aren't being asked for. When does it
become necessary to start investing in our future by fixing these problems,
and when you do decide it becomes necessary, won't it become necessary to
raise taxes? And just isn't that a bald truth?"
- Lesley Stahl to OMB Director Richard Darman, July 23 Face the Nation.
Capital Gains Tax Cut
"How Capital Gains Tax Cut Found Its Way Back to the Table"
"A Long Tale of
Missing Leadership and Tactical Errors"
- Washington Post headlines, July 27.
Conflict of Interest?
"The board [of
directors] job is not a very meaningful part of my duties...Anybody can
fulfill two roles at the same time and maintain a wall between them in his
mind."
- Time Editor in Chief Jason McManus when asked about possible
conflict arising from editing stories on Time Inc. merger with Paramount. From
the July 3 Los Angeles Times.
Your Tax Dollars at Work
"Quentin Crisp, Gay Author. The self-described 'effeminate homosexual,' and author of The Naked Civil Servant, recalls his bold coming out in England in the 1930's - when he wore more makeup than most women."
"Prostitution
Styles. This report examines the class and caste structure of prostitutes
and pimps, how and why people become prostitutes, and how to help those who
want out."
- Titles and descriptions of tapes offered in National Public Radio
catalogue.
- 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
