I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them.
George H. W. BushRead
I think the 24-hour news cycle has helped exaggerate the differences between the parties. You can always find someone on TV somewhere carping about something. That didn't happen 20 years ago.
Interpretation
The constant news coverage amplifies political differences and conflict.
George H. W. Bush reflects on how the fast-paced 24-hour news cycle has changed political discourse, pointing out that it tends to exaggerate the divisions between political parties. Unlike two decades ago, the prevalence of media coverage means that anyone with a grievance can voice their concerns publicly, often leading to heightened tensions and polarization within political discussions.
In practice
In a speech about media responsibility, one could quote Bush to highlight how modern news shapes political opinions.
I have opinions of my own - strong opinions - but I don't always agree with them.
One of the good things about the way the Gulf War ended in 1991 is, you'd see the Vietnam veterans marching with the Gulf War veterans.
Communism didn't fall. It was pushed.
The anchor in our world today is freedom, holding us steady in times of change, a symbol of hope to all the world.
It's too much show business and too much prompting, too much artificiality, and not really debates. They're rehearsed appearances.
Appeasement does not work. As was the case in the 1930s, we see in Saddam Hussein an aggressive dictator threatening his neighbors.
But remember that if the struggle were to resort to violence, it will lose vision, beauty and imagination. Most dangerous of all, it will marginalize and eventually victimize women. And a political struggle that does not have women at the heart of it, above it, below it, and within it is no struggle at all.
I refuse to be part of an effort to legitimize an alternate narrative that the Ukrainian government is a U.S. adversary, and that Ukraine - not Russia - attacked us in 2016.
If I were president, I'd be very glad to see the Palestinians have a nation recognized by the United Nations. There's no downside to it.
For Mr. Putin, vacillation invites aggression. His world is a brutish, cynical place, where power is worshiped, weakness is despised, and all rivalries are zero-sum.
If the Arab Spring was a large nail in the coffin of al-Qaeda's ideology, the death of bin Laden was an equally large nail in the coffin of al-Qaeda the organization.
Scotland is not a region of the U.K.; Scotland is a nation, and if we cannot protect our interests within a U.K. that is going to be changing fundamentally, then that right of Scotland to consider the options of independence has to be there.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.