{"quotes":[{"text":"Democrats and Republicans were essentially the same party with different faces and that was why, no matter how many promises each leader made, significant change rarely transpired.","author":"James Morcan","tags":["conspiracy","democrats","espionage","fiction","political","republican-party-united-states","republicans","spy","thriller"],"id":96659,"author_id":"James+Morcan"},{"text":"You might think that the Left could have a regime-change perspective of its own, based on solidarity with its comrades abroad. After all, Saddam's ruling Ba'ath Party consolidated its power by first destroying the Iraqi communist and labor movements, and then turning on the Kurds (whose cause, historically, has been one of the main priorities of the Left in the Middle East). When I first became a socialist, the imperative of international solidarity was the essential if not the defining thing, whether the cause was popular or risky or not. I haven't seen an anti-war meeting all this year at which you could even guess at the existence of the Iraqi and Kurdish opposition to Saddam, an opposition that was fighting for 'regime change' when both Republicans and Democrats were fawning over Baghdad as a profitable client and geopolitical ally. Not only does the 'peace' movement ignore the anti-Saddam civilian opposition, it sends missions to console the Ba'athists in their isolation, and speaks of the invader of Kuwait and Iran and the butcher of Kurdistan as if he were the victim and George W. Bush the aggressor.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["al-anfal-campaign","anti-war","ba-ath-party","baghdad","communism","democratic-party-united-states","george-w-bush","invasion-of-kuwait","iran-iraq-war","iraq","iraq-war","iraqi-communist-party","iraqi-kurdistan","kurdish-people","kuwait","labour-movement","leftism","middle-east","opposition-to-the-iraq-war","peace-movement","republican-party-united-states","saddam-hussein","socialism"],"id":111392,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"This brings us to the crux moment in the supposed 'Show Trial' melodrama. Employing the confusing and confused testimony of Jude Wanniski (who he also describes as a political nut-case, if not a nut-case flat-out, and to whom he introduced me in the first place) Blumenthal suggests that I concerted my testimony in advance with the House Republicans, notably James Rogan and Lindsey Graham. Feebly bridging the gap between sheer conjecture and outright conspiracy, Rogan is quoted as saying: 'Hitchens may well have called Lindsey..' I did not in fact do any such thing. Why should my denial be believed? It's not as if I care. I probably should have colluded with them, if my intention was to land a blow on Clinton (which it was) let alone to plant a Judas kiss on Blumenthal (which it was not). But every other fragment of Blumenthal's evidence and description shows—even boasts—that Congressman Graham was essentially punching air until the last day of the trial. That could not possibly have been true, especially in his cross-examination of Blumenthal, if he knew he had an ace in his vest-pocket all along. Only a tendency to paranoia or to all-explaining theories could suggest the contrary. I'd even be able to claim for myself, I hope, that if I'd truly wanted to gouge a deep or vengeful wound I could or would have made a better job of it.","author":"Christopher Hitchens","tags":["bill-clinton","conspiracy-theories","impeachment-of-bill-clinton","james-e-rogan","judas-iscariot","jude-wanniski","kiss-of-judas","lewinsky-scandal","lindsey-graham","politics","presidency-of-bill-clinton","republican-party-united-states","sidney-blumenthal","united-states","us-house-of-representatives"],"id":118281,"author_id":"Christopher+Hitchens"},{"text":"If Feingold does it, if he wins this race in this year, it will not be as just another Democratic senator. It will not be as a maverick, nor even as an idealist. It will be as a signal that maybe, just maybe, people power can still beat the money power. That senators aren't just extensions of parties and presidents, and that politics can be about something more than Democratic toothpaste versus Republican toothpaste.","author":"John Nichols","tags":["2010","democratic-party-united-states","idealism","politics","politics-of-the-united-states","republican-party-united-states","ron-johnson","russ-feingold","united-states-elections-2010","us-senate-wisconsin-2010"],"id":143851,"author_id":"John+Nichols"},{"text":"When Republicans recently charged the President with promoting 'class warfare,' he answered it was 'just math.' But it's more than math. It's a matter of morality.Republicans have posed the deepest moral question of any society: whether we're all in it together. Their answer is we're not.President Obama should proclaim, loudly and clearly, we are.","author":"Robert B. Reich","tags":["barack-obama","class-warfare","conservatism","economics","liberalism","mathematics","morality","politics","republican-party-united-states","society","united-states"],"id":192605,"author_id":"Robert+B.+Reich"},{"text":"The great cause of the new Republican intake is the reduction of the deficit but to anyone seeking evidence of sincere attempts at deficit-reduction the evidence is baffling. The Republicans showed before Christmas that they would seek to reduce the deficit but not when it came to a matter of the tax breaks that had aggravated the deficit in the first place.Now there's a date set for the abolition of Barack Obama's healthcare plan, parts of which only came into operation at the start of this month. The Republicans are out to destroy the plan. Or, more precisely, to pretend to destroy the plan in the name of making good on election pledges. The measure won't get past the Senate.But suppose it did get past the Senate, what effect would this have on the deficit? The answer is it would aggravate the deficit. Somehow, somewhere, there's an override mechanism that makes destroying Obamacare more important than destroying the deficit. If only one could figure out how it works.","author":"James Fenton","tags":["2010","2011","barack-obama","bush-tax-cuts","christmas","healthcare-reform","healthcare-reform-in-the-us","politics","presidency-of-barack-obama","republican-party-united-states","united-states","united-states-elections-2010","united-states-public-debt","united-states-senate"],"id":197592,"author_id":"James+Fenton"},{"text":"Republicans know well that a change of rhetorical pace is necessary. But efforts by their leaders to damp down the bellicosity of newly elected Tea Party types is running into the fact that the Tea Partiers have only the high volume setting on their amplifiers, just like Palin. They're like a couple having a fight at a funeral; politely sotto voce, then suddenly bursting out fortissimo with their plaints and accusations.","author":"Alexander Cockburn","tags":["2011","2011-tuscon-shooting","bickering","funerals","politics","republican-party-united-states","rhetoric","sarah-palin","tea-party-movement","united-states"],"id":223428,"author_id":"Alexander+Cockburn"},{"text":"[W]hat possible purpose does this lashing-out serve? Will activists be shamed into recovering their previous enthusiasm? Will Republicans stop their vicious attacks because Obama is lashing out to his left? It was pure self-indulgence; even if he feels aggrieved, he has to judge his words by their usefulness, not by his desire to vent. This isn't about him.","author":"Paul Krugman","tags":["2010","activism","barack-obama","bush-tax-cuts","compromise","leftism","liberalism","republican-party-united-states"],"id":228291,"author_id":"Paul+Krugman"},{"text":"The Democrats would like you to believe that the USA is the 'Greatest nation on Earth'. Is this true? The Republicans answer this question by stating there is a need to 'Make America Great Again.","author":"Steven Magee","tags":["again","america","answer","believe","democrat","democratic-party-united-states","democrats","earth","great","greatest","make","nation","need","political","political-philosophy","political-science","politician","politicians","politics","politics-of-the-united-states","question","republican","republican-party","republican-party-united-states","republicans","stating","true","usa"],"id":287747,"author_id":"Steven+Magee"},{"text":"On the other hand, when you grow up you will discover that some of the people in this world never passed beyond the stage of the cave-man.","author":"Hendrik Willem van Loon","tags":["adulthood","adults","cave-man","cave-men","caveman","cavemen","humor","ignorance","mature","maturity","republican","republican-party-united-states","republicans","trump"],"id":317747,"author_id":"Hendrik+Willem+van+Loon"}],"pagination":{"page":1,"page_size":10,"total":14,"pages":2,"next":"?page=2\u0026page_size=10"}}