Political Quotes

“I was born in 1949. That was the year that George Orwell published the book ``1984.'' I offered an amendment in committee to change the title of this bill from the Hate Crimes bill to the Thought Crimes bill. In fact, you are seeking to punish thought. And even though the gentleman from Virginia has stated correctly that under this bill, they will be prosecuting crimes, they will also be sentenced for thoughts. Orwell wrote in 1949 in the book ``1984,'' ``We are not interested in those stupid crimes that you have committed. The party is not interested in any overt act. The thought is all that we care about. We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them. Do you understand what I mean by that?'' And he goes on to define ``crimethink,'' which is exactly the bill before us today. And he defines it this way: ``To even consider any thought not in line with the principles of Ingsoc. Doubting any of the principles of Ingsoc. All crimes begin with a thought. So, if you control thought, you control crime. Thoughtcrime is death. Thoughtcrime does not entail death. Thoughtcrime is death, the essential crime that contains all others in and of itself.''”