Political Quotes

“So one has to ask oneself, why are we doing this? I think the Washington Post today had an excellent editorial in which they say, ``Why is the Senate taking up this matter now?'' They also point out how this issue is years away--years away. Well, I think we know why it is happening. It is election-year politics, and as one of the two Senators from California, I am not going to be part of that kind of politics. As I said before, it is a preemptive strike on a nonexistent proposal. It is as if we decided, as a Nation, to bomb a country because we thought they were going to do something to harm us when, in fact, all they wanted to do is live in peace. Of course, America would never do such a thing. Why would we want to do it to a whole group of people? I believe we are all Americans, Mr. President. I believe we do much better when we work together on issues, when we don't divide. If you read history books, you will see so many cases in history where a group of people is identified, and they are scapegoated, and they are treated differently, and they become nameless and faceless. It is what I call the politics of division, the politics of fear. I could never be associated with that kind of politics.”