Political Quotes

“Madam President, in her 1993 Nobel lecture, Toni Morrison-- no conservative--told a story of an old woman who was approached by a group of kids, mocking her and asking her to offer her conjecture: Old woman, I hold in my hand a bird. Tell me whether it is living or dead. The blind, old woman was revered for her wisdom and experience. She responded: I don't know whether the bird you are holding is dead or alive, but what I do know is that it is in your hands. It is in your hands. The old woman, of course, meant whether the bird is alive or dead is the responsibility of the person who holds it. Morrison said: The blind woman shifts attention away from assertions of power to the instrument through which that power is exercised. Now, Morrison could have been talking about Congress. I will leave to your judgment who in Congress is a mocking youth and who is the old woman, but in politics it is the instrument of power rather than the assertion of power that matters. Just this last week, the instruments of power were used, despite assertions otherwise, to quietly pave the way for the Democrats' ``Destroy America'' bill, which they have called Build Back Better. Congress used a novel procedure to pass a bill, giving Democrats a blank check to raise the debt ceiling to pay for Build Back Better. Procedural jujitsu is hardly the stuff of base-motivating campaign rhetoric, but it is the instrument of power. Now I will describe how this happened, but a bit of background is necessary.…”