Old Fogey's Quotes for Friday/Saturday

I've been very slack in my postings for a combination of reasons. Foremost, I think is a smaller sense of urgency after the elections. Also we have had our house all torn up while converting our remaining carpeted rooms to hardwood floors. So much sawdust and so little order!

"Industry is coming together and saying, 'Okay, if we're going to do this, let's do this in a way that won't wreck the economy.' "
John L. Stowell, Duke Energy's vice president for environmental policy
Energy Firms Come to Terms With Climate Change
[Those who think elections don't change anything should look at how various industries are now willing to accept what they see as inevitable regulations.]

"The hope for justice is one of the few things that the victims of Darfur still have. It is very important for us to keep this hope alive and show there will be justice for them. We care about that."
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
World Court Reports Evidence on Darfur Criminals
[We ought to do more than 'keep hope alive.' We ought to keep the people alive. Like so many other tragedies of our times, the world has the means to stop the genocide--it just lacks the will.]

"The more the United States and its allies try to support the forces of moderation, the more they seem to undermine them. Western ideas about democratic progress instantly produce deadly antibodies in the Arab body. The disease keeps winning."
David Ignatius in WaPo
The Politics of Murder
[We would be far more successful in spreading democracy if we modeled it better. Why would poor people be excited by the idea, when they see the growing disparity in the distribution of wealth here? Or when they see government co-opted by the financial elites?]

"I don't think there's a lot more there. I think we're done."
James Carafano, homeland security fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative-oriented Washington think tank
9/11 Commission Ideas Not Easy to Enact
[The article notes that most of the unenacted recommendations of the 9/11 commission are 'either too expensive or face stiff political opposition.' I guess those tough on security Republicans draw the line on anything that could jeopardize tax cuts for the wealthy.]

"Bush family retainers are working to deprogram him, but the president is loath to strip off his delusions of adequacy."
Maureen Dowd in NYTimes
No One to Lose To (Available only to Times Select subscribers)
[For an explanation as to why this deprograming is so hard, see my previous post Our President is an Addict.]

"It sounds like Donald Rumsfeld. It shows the same kind of arrogance and hubris that got us into Iraq."
National Security Archive Director Thomas S. Blanton, referring to Robert M. Gates, President Bush's nominee to lead the Pentagon, who advocated a bombing campaign against Nicaragua in 1984 in order to "bring down" the leftist government.
Gates pushed for bombing of Sandinistas
[The Bush administration proves that old saying, 'The more things change, the more they remain the same.' Are these folks genetically incapable of learning from their mistakes?]

"I've been told at least twice by [the Democratic] leadership since I've been here that 'representative' isn't only a title, it's a job description, and that I'd better represent my district."
Rep. Nancy Boyda (D) of Kansas, one of the freshman class elected in November
Congress's pragmatic newcomers
[Let's just hope that she and the other freshmen don't equate representing their district merely with getting the most pork. It's time for all of us to realize that we can't continue to constantly act exclusively in our own interests to the detriment of the common good. What's the good of having a first-class cabin on a sinking ship?]