Political Quotes

“Mr. President, the world has witnessed considerable upheaval across the Middle East this year as citizens from all walks of life have turned out by the millions to say enough to repressive regimes, stagnant political systems, and a lack of economic opportunities. In fact, we should probably look back to the summer of 2009 when thousands upon thousands of ordinary Iranians bravely took to the streets to peacefully protest the country's likely stolen election. These Iranian citizens were met with brutal violence, death, detention, and unspeakable torture. While Iran's ruling dictatorship was able to temporarily repress the public aspirations of its own people, the seeds for wider public discontent were taking root through much of the region. First, in Tunisia we saw peaceful protests lead to the ousting of corrupt, long-time strongman President Ben Ali. Next, Egyptian President Mubarak resigned following sustained peaceful protests in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt. And certainly Muammar Qaddafi's reign of erratic and despotic rule is nearing an end. Other popular calls for political and economic reform from Bahrain to Yemen remain in flux. And as we saw this weekend with the violent and very troubling protests breaching the Israeli Embassy in Cairo, ousting a repressive regime is only one step on a long road toward building effective long- term democratic and economic institutions.…”