Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

“Historically, collective violence has flowed regularly out of the central political process of Western countries. People seeking to seize, hold, or realign, the levers of power have continually engaged in collective violence as part of their struggles. The oppressed have struck in the name of justice, the privileged in the name of order, those between in the name of fear. Great shifts in the arrangement of power have ordinarily produced- and have often depended on- exceptional moments of collective violence.”
Charles Tilly

“Many of the people who attend this year's God and Country Festival [in Nampa, ID] will arrive at the event in SUVs whose stereos resound with talk radio harangues denouncing the expansion of the welfare state under Obama. Yet those same people are blind to the ironic fact that the government institution they uncritically adore, the United States Military, has been the greatest factor in the growth of the welfare state.”
Will Grigg

“America is a free country? In your dreams maybe. Or, if you define a free country as a country whose government is free to do whatever it pleases, then, yes, America is a free government. Perhaps you think a free country is a country with elections. When did you ever agree to exchange your right to liberty for the right to vote for which politicians will be your new slave masters? And where do you go to undue that idiotic "bargain" you never made in the first place?”
James Ostrowski

“We’ve got to rethink this question of war and come to the conclusion that war cannot be accepted, no matter what the reasons given, or the excuse: liberty, democracy; this, that. War is by definition the indiscriminate killing of huge numbers of people for ends that are uncertain. Think about means and ends, and apply it to war. The means are horrible, certainly. The ends, uncertain. That alone should make you hesitate.”
Howard Zinn

“One thing smart people always do is to underestimate the power of foolishness. It is wild and reckless to stir up a race war. But that doesn't stop people from doing it. Any kind of war is a blow to reason and civilization. But that hasn't made war unpopular, even among the most reasonable and civilized people on the planet.”
Bill Bonner

“Just as I am not qualified or inclined to pontificate upon the proper treatment of slaves, other than unconditional freedom, I am not qualified or inclined to decide what might be the proper form of government, other than self-government. No document can ever make wrong right. We need to banish the idea that it can before we can move forward. Any other conclusion just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.”
Kent McManigal

“He who wishes to oppose statist depredations cannot do so without the support of religion. Opposition to religion, even if based on intellectual grounds and not intended as a political statement, nevertheless amounts to de facto support of government.”
Dr. Walter Block

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From the Darkness:

"We cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do. Israel has a right to determine what's in its interests, and we have a right and we will determine what's in our interests." [Is that right, Joe? It seems Israel is the ONLY country in the world you don’t dictate to.]
Joe Biden

“About everything we do around here is government intrusion in people’s lives. So have at it.”
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood

“We should be planning on a contingency basis for a second round of stimulus.”
Laura D’Andrea Tyson, Obama advisor. [Typical response by government to its failures- do more of the same.]

"In 2009, a great power does not show strength by dominating or demonising other countries. The days when empires could treat sovereign states as pieces on a chessboard are over."
Barry Obama, speaking to graduates from Moscow's New Economic School.[These people are absolutely shameless].

"We can berate politicians for not doing enough and for compromising too much and for not being bold in addressing this existential threat to civilization.”
Little Toad Al Gore, still busy doing his Chicken Little routine.

“Financial resources for mitigation and adaptation will need to be scaled up urgently and substantially and should involve mobilizing resources to support developing countries. Financing to address climate change will derive from multiple sources, including both public and private funds and carbon markets.”
From the Declaration of the leaders of the major economies forum on energy and climate, detailing how the anti-carbon elites intend to further plunder their human livestock.

“So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we're in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we're in. We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package. The truth of the matter was, no one anticipated, no one expected that that recovery package would in fact be in a position at this point of having to distribute the bulk of money.”

Joe Biden, weakly practicing CYA.

"The Federal Reserve strongly believes that removing the statutory limits on GAO audits of monetary policy matters would be contrary to the public interest by tending to undermine the independence and efficacy of monetary policy.”
Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn

“The era we face, that is soon upon us, will require a great deal from our leaders. They had better be sturdy. They will have to be gifted. There will be many who cannot, and should not, make the cut. Now is the time to look for those who can. And so the Republican party should get serious, as serious as the age, because that is what a grown-up, responsible party—a party that deserves to lead—would do.”
Peggy Noonan

“Reckless actions by a few have fueled a recession that spans the globe.”
Barry Obama [Gosh, B.O.- you don’t think that those “few” happen to reside in Washington, do you?]

“Repression can take many forms, and too many nations, even those that have elections, are plagued by problems that condemn their people to poverty. No country is going to create wealth if its leaders exploit the economy to enrich themselves ... or if police - if police can be bought off by drug traffickers. No business wants to invest in a place where the government skims 20 percent off the top ... or the head of the port authority is corrupt. No person wants to live in a society where the rule of law gives way to the rule of brutality and bribery.”
African native, Barry Obama, speaking to his former countrymen in Ghana. [The US seems to survive pretty well on a diet of “brutality and bribery.” Why deny this opportunity to Africans?]