I happen to think that American politics is one of the noblest arts of mankind; and I cannot do anything else but write about it.
Interpretation
The speaker considers American politics to be a noble field worthy of discussion and analysis.
In this quote, Theodore White expresses his belief that American politics is a significant and honorable pursuit, akin to an art form. He conveys a sense of duty and passion for writing about politics, suggesting that engaging with this subject is not only important but also a meaningful endeavor that reflects the complexities of society and governance.
In practice
In a speech about civic engagement at a community event.
Generally students are the best vehicles for passing on ideas, for their thoughts are plastic and can be molded and they can adjust the ideas of old men to the shape of reality as they find it in villages and hills of China or in ghettos and suburbs of America.
Power in America today is control of the means of communication.
Politics in America is the binding secular religion.
History is always best written generations after the event, when clouded fact and memory have all fused into what can be accepted as truth, whether it be so or not.
To go against the dominant thinking of your friends, of most of the people you see every day, is perhaps the most difficult act of heroism you can perform.
There is no excitement anywhere in the world, short of war, to match the excitement of the American presidential campaign.
The public think the politicians don't know or care about their lives; and the politicians feel misunderstood.
We should certainly know by now that it is one thing to overthrow a dictator or repel an invader and quite another thing really to achieve a revolution. Time and time and time again, the people discover that they have merely betrayed themselves into the hands of yet another Pharaoh, who, since he was necessary to put the broken country together, will not let them go.
Term limits would cure both senility and seniority- both terrible legislative diseases.
American politics used to be an amateur sport. But somewhere along the way, we handed over to professionals all the things people used to do for free.
We must not let history repeat itself in Iraq. The reality is there is no military solution in Iraq. This is a sectarian war with long standing roots that were flamed when we invaded Iraq in 2003. Any lasting solution must be political and take into account respect for the entire Iraqi population.
The black masses must demand and refuse to accept nothing less than that proportionate percentage of the political spoils such as jobs, elective offices and appointments... They must reject the shameful racial tokenism that characterizes the political life of America today.
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