Times Watch Quotes of Note -- Rosie O'Donnell, "Useful Provocateur" & Lou Dobbs, "Nativist"
Posted by:
Clay Waters
6/1/2007 3:34:58 PM
"Useful Provocateur" Rosie O'Donnell's WTC 7 Conspiracy Theory
"The first day of the post-Rosie O’Donnell era on 'The View' television show has come and gone, and by any fair accounting, an often useful provocateur has left the building. In her final months on the air, she mostly dropped her public torment of an attention-starved, orange-haired real estate developer. Instead, she opened debates with others about terrorism, peace and citizenship….Few civic virtues are as useful as skepticism, though it is rarely honored until too late. The citizens who questioned the validity of the case for war in Iraq were widely scorned or ignored in 2002 and 2003 by the government and the news media." -- Reporter-columnist Jim Dwyer, May 30.
Sophisticated Liberals, Simplistic Conservatives
"Mr. Bush and his allies have faced an important rhetorical disadvantage, particularly from the right. Conservative opponents can use one word, amnesty, against the bill. Supporters, the president included, are forced into the complex weeds of policy and the nuances of legislative language. Mr. Bush tried to offset the difference by discrediting the amnesty accusation." -- Jim Rutenberg, May 30.
Top Book Critic Loves Gore's "Fiercely Argued" Anti-Bush Screed
"And yet for all its sharply voiced opinions, 'The Assault on Reason' turns out to be less a partisan, election-cycle harangue than a fiercely argued brief about the current Bush White House that is grounded in copiously footnoted citations from newspaper articles, Congressional testimony and commission reports -- a brief that is as powerful in making its points about the implications of this administration’s policies as the author’s 2006 book, 'An Inconvenient Truth,' was in making its points about the fallout of global warming." – Book critic Michiko Kakutani, May 22.
Lou Dobbs, "Heir to the Nativist Tradition" Against Mexicans
" The problem with Mr. Dobbs is that he mixes opinion and untruths. He is the heir to the nativist tradition that has long used fiction and conspiracy theories as a weapon against the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, the Jews and, now, the Mexicans ." – David Leonhardt, May 30.
"Un-American," "Loud and Loony Right" Against Amnesty Bill
“Congress has taken the week off from the debate, with members going home to districts that have already been inflamed by the loud and loony right, which has decided that the bill is that filthy thing ‘amnesty’ and that the nation’s character would be defiled if it ever forgave illegal immigrants for coming here to do our worst jobs, or let too many more people in to put down roots. You could call that view unkind and uncharitable. You could also call it unwise, given economic realities. I would add un-American.” – Editorial Board member Lawrence Downes in a signed editorial from May 27.
GOP Must "Atone" for Conservative "Death Grip"
"The G.O.P.'s embrace of the conservative movement is beginning, some say, to resemble a death grip. But there have been no signs of atonement within the movement." -- Book Editor Sam Tanenhaus, May 20.
Bush's Memorial Day Speech: At Least not as "Bellicose" as Cheney's
"The speech stood in stark contrast to one delivered on Saturday by Vice President Dick Cheney at another military venue: the United States Military Academy at West Point. Speaking to 978 academy graduates, Mr. Cheney delivered a sharp and at times bellicose defense of the administration's policies. -- Sheryl Gay Stolberg, May 29.
Innocent Duke Players Slimed Again
"[Syracuse Professor Robert] Thompson was quick to point out the complexities in the Duke case, which he predicted could be glossed over if the team were to make a run to the national championship. The Duke players hired strippers for their party and were heard by neighbors making racist remarks that night. Reports later surfaced that 15 team members had been arrested in the three years before the party in March 2006. (Most were for misdemeanors like public urination, under-age drinking and violating noise ordinances.)" – Sports reporter Pete Thamel, May 20.
Still in Denial Over "What Role Religion Played" for Fort Dix Six Terror Suspects
"The authorities have called the men Islamic extremists, but have not detailed exactly what role religion played in the plans they are accused of making. There has been no indication of involvement by the mosque here in Palmyra or another one in Philadelphia where four of the men occasionally prayed. -- Kareem Fahim, May 19.
Reality Check: -- "In Large Immigrant Family, Religion Guided 3 Held in Fort Dix Plot." -- Headline over Fahim's May 10 story.
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