Political Quotes

“It seems to me, Mr. President--and I ask for the comments of the Senator from Georgia on this--that during the course of this last half-hour or so, there have been perhaps five different, but related, themes. I wonder if my understanding is accurate. The first, and in a sense the most immediate, is the way in which the White House responds to any kind of criticism, very frequently with nasty personal attack. The second, which is one step above that and perhaps triggers the first, is the indifference in the administration itself to the question of drugs and of security and the like, you know, by the people who serve the administration. The third, it seems to me, is the drug policy of the administration. I think the Senator from Georgia has already spoken to that question-- less money, fewer people, less attention. The fourth is as the Senator from Arizona just said, the use or nonuse of the magnificent platform that any President of the United States has to speak to matters which are of deep concern to the American people or which create grave social problems or challenges to the American people. And the question as to whether or not any particular President pays any attention to that subject. But I think each of those, in my view at least, leads to the final question. And that is, what impact is the plague of drugs imposing on the American people? Is the use of illegal substances rising or falling at any given level?”