Political Quotes

“To continue the chain of thought, like the issue on campaign contributions, the DOD authorization bill was stymied on the excuse of ``procedural'' considerations involving ``don't ask, don't tell,' when many Republicans had voted to repeal it on prior occasions. This country is still governed by ``we the people,'' but the only people who count are the ones who vote. If mainstream Republicans had been as active tea party Republicans in the Utah, Alaska, and Delaware primaries, I believe Bennett, Murkowski, and Castle would have won. That would have given heart to other Republican Senators that their records would be judged by a sufficiently large base to give them a fighting chance to survive. Politics is routinely described as the art of the possible or the art of compromise. The viability of the two-party system is predicated on advocacy of differing approaches to governance which ultimately seeks middle ground or compromise. That is virtually always indispensible to reach a supermajority of 60. When one party insists on ideological purity, compromise is thwarted and the two-party system fails to function. People with grievances are the most anxious to shake up the system. The Congress needs to deal with issues such as the deficit, the national debt, and the intrusiveness of government. The tea party people who attended townhall meetings in August of 2009, like mine in Lebanon, were not Astro Turf, but citizens making important points.…”