Quotes About Politics

When Chesterton says we must not trust humanity, he especially reminds us not to put too much trust in politics or in whatever political party we pick. We generally expect too much from political parties, but none of them is based on any permanent philosophy, and, because of that, at some point they will conflict with faith.

If you attempt an actual argument with a paper of the opposite politics, says Chesterton, "you will have no answer except slanging or silence.

Climate change is occurring and is effectively irreversible on timescales that are meaningful to us. Our failure to prevent or even to respond significantly reflects the impoverishment of our systems of practical reason, the paralysis of our politics, and the limits of our cognitive and affective capacities.

Several candidates for the Republican nomination for president in 2012 had previously accepted the climate science consensus, and in some cases actively worked toward climate change solutions (e.g., Huntsman, Pawlenty, Gingrich, and Romney). After becoming presidential candidates, they retreated from their previous positions in every case.

Whenever American farmers leave their plows en masse and race threateningly after the regular politicians they are called wild jackasses, or worse. An agrarian tide is said to be rising, or a fire sweeping the prairies, or a farm rebellion in progress. Mixing of the burning and flowing and rebelling metaphors is hard to avoid...The hoofprints of the wild jackasses are on our democracy, and its configuration is the better for them.

The world can no longer be left to mere diplomats, politicians, and business leaders. They have done the best they could, no doubt. But this is an age for spiritual heroes- a time for men and women to be heroic in their faith and in spiritual character and power. The greatest danger to the Christian church today is that of pitching its message too low.

I'm not really one of those people who believes that if you're a musician you can just leave that behind and start getting into politics.

The kingdom of God cannot be co-opted. It cannot be subsumed by a political party and loses its soul if it seeks to identify with one.

Politics was not just about winning the election, it was about winning decisively--having the momentum to carry out one's vision. Historically, any president who squeaked into office on a narrow margin accomplished much less; he was weakened right out of the gate, and Congress never seemed to let him forget it.

America must be in really bad shape if you elected me president. You better get it together and find some other qualified people to run this country or we'll all be in big trouble.

We are morally adrift, spiritually bankrupt, enamored with the ever-growing catalog of false idols that is consumerism, politically gullible, rage-drunk, media fattened, and ripe for a culling at the hands of one tragedy or another that will no doubt rip the golden dome of American life off its rotten foundations.

We can't fix society until we fix the schools. We can't fix the schools until we fix the neighborhoods. We can't fix the neighborhoods until we fix the economy. We can't fix the economy until we fix politics. We can't fix politics until we fix the pernicious effect of basic human insecurities. We can't fix the pernicious effect of basic human insecurities until we fix society. We can't fix society until we fix the schools.

The American people have a nasty habit of waiting until it's far too late to start giving a shit. By and large, your average eligible voter tunes in to politics once every two or four years because they have been scared, shocked, bullied, cajoled, stimulated, seduced, suckered, or outright fear fucked by one or more extremities of the hideous mutant that is our electoral process.

What makes the difference between healthy and destructive organization is what you are organizing for. When the church decides to organize around controlling people, politics, and self-preservation, it eventually leads to unhealthy and restrictive organization.

I do have a political agenda. It's to have as few regulations as possible.

We have to do more than just elect a new President if we truly want to change this country.

The American people would not want to know of any misquotes that Dan Quayle may or may not make.

We see elected officials pounding their chests, saying their vision of America represents the only real patriotism. To them I say that patriotism is not a cudgel. It is not an arms race.

President Reagan had said, in a presidential debate against Walter Mondale, "I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and who have lived here even though sometime back they may have entered illegally." Imagine: The patron saint of the modern conservative movement made the case for a concept that today would have him pilloried by the right-wing press and those cynical politicians who have learned to exploit division for their own electoral success.

Gerrymandering isn't just a recent phenomenon, though; the word was coined in 1812 when Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry went to such egregious lengths to redraw the state senate districts in his party's favor that one district took on the shape of a salamander.

I worry that our nation today suffers from a deficit of empathy, and this is especially true of many in positions of national leadership

It is important not to confuse "patriotism" with "nationalism.

Back in 1980, the science-fiction author Isaac Asimov wrote, "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.

Who was Hitler?' I said. Tyrena smiled slightly. 'An Old Earth politician who did some writing.