Quotes

"Today’s so-called ‘conservatives’ don’t even know what the word means. They think I’ve turned liberal because I believe a woman has a right to an abortion. That’s a decision that’s up to the pregnant woman, not up to the pope or some do-gooders or the Religious Right. It’s not a conservative issue at all."

It's hard to argue against cynics -- they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side

I believe in practicing prudence at least once every two or three years.

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.”

There's never been a law yet that didn't have a ridiculous consequence in some unusual situation; there's probably never been a government program that didn't accidentally benefit someone it wasn't intended to. Most people who work in government understand that what you do about it is fix the problem -- you don't just attack the whole government.

The Republican debate was on earlier tonight. Side effects may include nausea, vomiting and sexual dysfunction.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

What stuns me most about contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state capitols… Politics is not a picture on a wall or a television sitcom that you can decide you don't much care for.

It is possible to read the history of this country as one long struggle to extend the liberties established in our Constitution to everyone in America.

Our species needs, and deserves, a citizenry with minds wide awake and a basic understanding of how the world works.