On Why We Voted Republican...
"We have an obligation to reassert ... that this nation comes from God, that it is in fact only successful when it is submissive to God's will."
--House Speaker Newt Gingrich, after being renominated to his post.
The Washington Times on 11/21/96, front page.
On Crime and Punishment...
"In 1992, almost half of those convicted of one violent felony served no prison time at all. Even a quarter of those with three or more violent felony convictions walked. Between 1985 and 1992, the average maximum sentence of prisoners actually declined 15 percent. Murderers released in 1992 had served an average of just 5.9 years behind bars. Convicted rapists spent an average of four years and 11 months behind bars."
--Maggie Gallagher, nationally syndicated columnist, in the Washington Times
on 11/20/96, page A14.
On Setting Priorities...
"I used to have children who were so frustrated they'd cry. I don't see that at all now."
--Gail Angiulo, a second-grade teacher at Tamalpais Valley School in
San Francisco, referring to the new "MathLand" teaching program, which
teaches math in a 'touchy-feely' way. It's nice that they are no
longer frustrated, but they also are no longer learning math. Math
scores dropped at 8 of 10 schools in Santa Barbara after Mathland
was introduced in 1995. The Washington Times on 11/18/96, page A2.
On Spinning Out of Control...
"The fact is that our trade deficit increase is decreasing at a fairly impressive rate."
--Commerce Secretary Mickey Cantor, concerning the fact that the September
U.S. trade deficit was the second LARGEST deficit in history. The Washington
Times on 11/22/96, page A7.
On Being Shameless...
"Last week, President Clinton announced he was designating October 12-19 'National Character Counts Week.' Clinton remarked on the day of the pronouncement, 'During this special week, we recognize that character is not a quality we are born with; we must learn it.' "
--Human Events, October 25, 1996. Outrage duJour for 11/20/96.
On Striving for Excellence... NOT!
"Karin A. Beitelspacher has been bringing home blue ribbons for years from 4-H club competitions at the state farm is Des Moines. But this year, even her well-received homemade salsa did not win first place. The 16-year-old was disappointed, but then so were thousands of other children who belong to 4-H, a rite of passage in rural America. In an experiment this fall, 4-H gave 3,500 Iowa State Fair competitors the same multicolored ribbons recognizing participation, rather than awarding the traditional first, second, and third place ribbons."
--Robyn Meredith, New York Times, November 7, 1996. Outrage duJour for
11/22/96.
On Comments from the Liberals...
"He is of course a shocking liar. He will say absolutely anything at all. ... He is breathtakingly cynical. This is a man who committed himself to a policy of making abortion 'safe, legal and rare,' and then vetoed a ban on the near-infanticide called partial-birth abortion -- and then accused critics of his action of immorality. A man who signed the Defense of Marriage Act while denouncing it as gay-bashing, then ran campaign commercials on Christian radio bragging that he signed it. A man who signed the Republican bill ending welfare as a federal entitlement, and then asked Democrats to vote him back into office on the grounds that only he could fix the wrong he had done. As Republicans note with theatrical astonishment, 14 of the accomplishments of which Clinton bragged in his acceptance speech at the Democratic convention were actually GOP measures. As he proved in his relentless exploitation of the Medicare issue and of black church fires, he is an occasional demagogue. ... He is the fairest of fair-weather friends. ... He is perhaps the greatest golf cheat in the history of the game."
--Michael Kelly, who covered the presidential campaign for the New Yorker,
now the editor at the New Republic, in his first column as editor.
Received via C-NEWS on 11/20/96.
On Another John Warner Scenario...
"[T]he 'Religious Right'...are not people who vote based on qualifications or newspaper endorsements or what their neighbor says. They vote as they are told... [A]fter the election was over, I spent a week reading everything I could find on the religious right...Frankly, it's pretty scary...I have learned a lot about this movement...It is a hate-filled agenda of gay-bashing and intolerance that is much like the fundamentalism that has recently swept the Middle East, the neo-Nazis in Germany, and now, the neo-Fascists in Italy....I am exploring ways to awaken the American public....[like] setting up an organization to form a potent voter block (sic) to counter these extremists."
--Dolly Madison McKenna, after her primary defeat in 1994. She is now in a
run-off election in Texas, needing support from those she had made a career
of bashing. From the AFA/Texas Family Update (Nov 20, 1996). Received via
C-NEWS on 11/21/96.