Notable Quotables - 01/19/2004

Published: 1/19/2004 2:00 AM ET

Katie Invited ONeills Critique...

President Bush once praised Secretary ONeill for his candor. He was called a straight shooter. Today ONeill is under investigation for a tell-all book that raises serious questions about the Bush administration.
You say nowhere did you ever see evidence that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. Well, an intelligent person would draw the conclusion that those charges were being trumped up by the administration as a rationale for the invasion.
Do you think an invasion of a country should be based on allusion and assertion?
You do describe him [President Bush] as a blind man in a room full of deaf people. So what are you saying about the way policy is established in this White House?
Katie Courics introduction and some of her questions to former Treasury Secretary Paul ONeill, Today, Jan. 13.

...But Scolded Traitorous George

He was once one of the Presidents most trusted aides, but his new book about his years on the inside has many wondering whether hes a traitor or man of integrity.
A lot of people, George, think that this is just kinda creepy, that youve done this. They see you as a turncoat, a Linda Tripp type, if you will, who sort of ingratiated himself with the people inside the White House. They made you who you became, and now all of a sudden, youre telling, youre airing all the dirty laundry and some people just think thats sorta gross.
I mean, you were sitting there or standing there once when the President was in his boxer shorts and Hillary came in and they kissed and you witnessed conversations. It seems to me that, I mean, is nothing sacred?
Why now, George? Couldnt this have waited until the President was out of office?
Couric to George Stephanopoulos on the March 12, 1999 Today after he wrote a book, All Too Human, about his experiences as an operative for Bill Clinton.

Hoping for an Anti-Bush Agenda

I think crony capitalism is gonna be a big issue. All of the connections between the Bush White House and companies like Haliburton and the deals on energy and the environment and so on, I think the Democrats are gonna use that....You know, bashing the rich is one thing, but bashing the corrupt rich who are cutting sweetheart deals is another thing entirely.
Times Joe Klein on the Chris Matthews Show, Jan. 4.

The Conservative Howard Dean

Kelly Wallace: Those who know him well say Governor Howard Dean was no left-wing liberal.
Vermont political writer Peter Freyne: We all laugh at that. Howard Dean represented the Republican wing of the Democratic party. Some even thought it was the Republican wing of the Republican Party at first.
Wallace: In fact, his biggest critics during his 11-year tenure were not Republicans, but left-leaning Democrats who sometimes found him too conservative, like Democrat Francis Brooks.
State representative Francis Brooks (D): There were times when leaving his office, we were a long ways from agreement.
CNNs Paula Zahn Tonight, January 7.

I give it to Howard Dean. The bum rap is that hes an out of the mainstream liberal. During his twelve years as Governor, the words liberal and Howard Dean never appeared in the same sentence.
Newsweeks Eleanor Clift giving the Bummest Rap award for 2003 on the December 27 McLaughlin Group.

[Howard Deans] liberal credentials are belied by a long-standing predilection for political moderation and fiscal conservatism in Vermont.
From a front-page New York Times profile of Howard Dean by Rick Lyman, December 28.

Reality Check:
After 12 years of Deans so-called fiscal conservatism, Vermont remains one of the highest taxing and spending states.
- The Cato Institutes Stephen Moore and Stephen Slivinski in their Fiscal Policy Report Card on Americas Governors: 2002. Dean earned a D from Cato for his overall lack of fiscal conservatism.

NYT Sees Helpful Democrats...

Clark and Kerry Offering Plans to Help Middle Class/Gearing proposals to appeal to everyday Americans.
Headline and blurb accompanying a story about the Democratic candidates in the January 6 New York Times.

...But Stingy Republicans

Bush Pushes Education as Election Year Opens/Defending programs that Democrats say he underfinanced.
Headline and blurb summarizing a story about President Bush on the same page.

ABC Touts Bleak New Reality

Dan Harris: President Bush used his weekly radio address today to trumpet new jobless figures, which put unemployment at a 14-month low. But...behind these upbeat numbers are millions of workers whove had to downsize their paychecks and their dreams....
Dean Reynolds: For millions of Americans, being employed means lowering expectations. While there are small signs that better-paying jobs are returning, for the most part, the new positions are on the lower end of the pay scale, and with more and more American jobs being shipped overseas, thats unlikely to change for years. One analyst said its important for the American worker to come to terms with this new reality. As he put it, there isnt going to be any miraculous job rebound, and to suggest that this economy will be able to create 250,000 jobs a month anytime soon is unfair.
ABCs World News Tonight, January 10.

Up in Arms Over Nazi Tactics

Foreign visitors are going to be fingerprinted at airports. It starts today. Everybodys up in arms. Were going to ask: Is it going to do any good?
Diane Sawyer at the top of ABCs Good Morning America, January 5.

Some countries, as you know Secretary Ridge, are furious at this new policy, specifically Brazil which has started to do the same to U.S. visitors to that country. A Brazilian judge said, compared the new security plans to Nazi horrors saying, I consider the act absolutely brutal, threatening human rights, violating human dignity, xenophobic and worthy of the worst horrors committed by the Nazis. How do you respond to that?
NBCs Katie Couric to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge on Today, January 5.

When Will the Enemy Have Won?

The death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq is now nearing 500. How many is too many?
CBSs Harry Smith to Ambassador Paul Bremer on The Early Show, January 13.

Bushs Big Bucks Button

[Howard Dean] cannot equate with the fundraising power of a President of the United States who is a Republican, especially representing the corporate interests. He can go out there, push the button and get a lot of money.
NBC anchor Tom Brokaw to Daily Show host Jon Stewart on Comedy Central, January 6.

Howard Dean, the Love Doctor

[Former New Jersey Senator Bill] Bradley said the Dean campaign quote, offers America new hope. The Dean campaign also, apparently, offers America new love as CBSs Richard Schlesinger reports.
Anchor John Roberts introducing a Jan. 6 CBS Evening News story about Dean supporters who met through the campaigns Internet-organized meet-ups.

Those Awful Eighties

They were college classmates from the 60s, mourning the loss of a friend and their idealism....It was 1983, a time of Reaganomics, burgeoning yuppies, and the Decade of Greed.
NBCs Matt Lauer on the December 30 Today show, in a story on the 20th anniversary of the film The Big Chill.

CNN Will Never Forget

It is an absolute certainty that if Palm Beach had designed a ballot that correctly reflected the views of the voters Al Gore would be President of the United States today.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin on Inside Politics, January 8.

Mel Takes God Way Too Seriously

I think at the heart of the controversy [over The Passion] is Mel Gibsons extreme passion for his very ultra-conservative Catholic faith, and Jewish leaders who are worried that a film about the crucifixion could feed into anti-Semitism. Thats at the heart of it.
Peoples Jess Cagle on CBSs Early Show, January 8.

Toms Bias Is Even More Wearying

American University journalism professor Jane Hall: The Media Research Center, the conservative media watchdog group, has been getting a lot of attention for its reports alleging liberal bias in the media....What is the impact, do you think, of a steady drumbeat of such criticism? Does it not have an impact on the network?
Tom Brokaw: It is a little wearying, but youve got to rise above it and take it case by case. Most of the cases are pretty flimsily made....What I get tired of is Brent Bozell [president of the Media Research Center] trying to make these fine legal points everywhere every day. A lot of it just doesnt hold up. So much of it is that bias - like beauty - is in the eye of the beholder.
Hall: So it hasnt impacted the way you cover stories?
Brokaw: No, it hasnt.
From an interview with Brokaw in the January/February issue of the Columbia Journalism Review.