American Democracy Quotes - Page 2

• As a result of the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, American democracy is being undermined by the ability of the Koch brothers and other billionaire families. These wealthy contributors can literally buy politicians and elections by spending hundreds of millions of dollars in support of the candidates of their choice. We need to overturn Citizens United and move toward public funding of elections so that all candidates can run for office without being beholden to the wealthy and powerful.

  Bernie Sanders

  Running, Brother, Powerful

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• I think with the advent of Reagan, and subsequently, both parties, there's been a strong move towards the advantage given to the richer people, in taxation and grants and supplements and things of that kind. Primarily exacerbated more recently by the Supreme Court's stupid ruling on Citizens United, and now there's a massive flood of money into the political system that I think has subverted the essence of a moral and ethical standard that used to permeate American democracy. Now it's not an admirable process. I think we've gone backwards.

  Jimmy Carter

  Strong, Stupid, Party

  Source: www.sfgate.com

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• If you care for the quality of life in our American democracy, then you have to be for censorship.

  Irving Kristol

  Democracy, Quality, Care

  Irving Kristol (1983). “Reflections of a neoconservative: looking back, looking ahead”, Basic Books (AZ)

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• The U.S. corporate media, otherwise known as the "free press," is that hollow pillar on which contemporary American democracy rests.

  Arundhati Roy

  Media, Democracy, Pillars

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• If elected president I will have a litmus test in terms of my nominee to be a Supreme Court justice. And the nominee will say, we are going to overturn this disastrous decision on Citizens United because that decision is undermining American democracy. I do not believe that billionaires should be allowed to buy politicians.

  Bernie Sanders

  Believe, Justice, Decision

  "Face The Nation Transcripts May 10, 2015: Huckabee, Sanders, Gingrich". CBS News "Face The Nation" with Bob Schieffer, www.cbsnews.com. May 10, 2015.

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• We've got to understand that the whole nature of the way American democracy guards its freedom has been changed

  John Ashcroft

  Democracy, Way, Changed

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• Today, with America being a beleaguered global power, in part because of its own mistakes, it is absolutely essential that the American democracy refocuses its concerns towards global issues and does not approach its own specific problems on the basis of, to some extend, self-induced fear.

  Zbigniew Brzezinski

  Mistake, Self, America

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• Fundamental problem in American democracy is that we are allowing congressmen and senators to be bought and sold like sneakers.

  Alex Gibney

  Sneakers, Democracy, Fundamentals

  Source: www.huffingtonpost.com

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• American democracy and the Soviet system may peacefully exist side by side and compete with each other. But one cannot evolve into the other.

  J. Stalin

  Democracy, May, Sides

  Source: www.marxists.org

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• The passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93, recognizing the potential danger that the aircraft they were aboard posed to large numbers of innocent Americans, American institutions, and the symbols of American democracy, took heroic and noble action to ensure that the aircraft they were aboard could not be used as a weapon.

  Arlen Specter

  Numbers, Democracy, Weapons

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• It would be easy to descend into despair, not only about the state of journalism, but the future of American democracy. But giving up is not an option. There is too much at stake.

  Laurie Garrett

  Giving Up, Despair, Democracy

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• American democracy is capsizing as a result of the vast increase in the number of government dependents and government employees.

  James Bovard

  Government, Numbers, Democracy

  James Bovard (2015). “Freedom in Chains: The Rise of the State and the Demise of the Citizen”, p.133, Macmillan

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• We need a very progressive and strong agenda to bring people into the political process because I worry very much about the future of the American democracy where so many people are giving up.

  Bernie Sanders

  Strong, Giving Up, People

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• Ben Carson and I don`t have much in common politically. But the fact is when you have kids getting involved in the political process, doing their best to elect the candidates of their choice, that`s what the American democracy is about.

  Bernie Sanders

  Kids, Choices, Political

  Source: www.msnbc.com

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• The question is, how do you stop the power elite from doing as much damage to you as possible? That comes through movements. It's not our job to take power. You could argue that the most powerful political figure in April of 1968 was Martin Luther King. And we know Johnson was terrified of him. We have to accept that all of the true correctives to American democracy came through these movements that never achieved formal political power and yet frightened the political establishment enough to respond.

  Chris Hedges

  Kings, Jobs, Powerful

  Interview with David Barsamian, www.sharedhost.progressive.org. July 14, 2011.

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• There is a reason why these people [from Wall Street] are putting huge amounts of money into our political system. And in my view, it is undermining American democracy and it is allowing Congress to represent wealthy campaign contributors and not the working families of this country.

  Bernie Sanders

  Country, Wall, Views

  Source: www.washingtonpost.com

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• You can forgive your leaders for not knowing the intricacies of Islamic history. You cannot forgive them for not knowing their own. And when you look at American democracy, where did it start? It started, if you need to pick a point, at Runnymede in 1215. We have now been at this process, we and our English-speaking allies, for 800 years.

  Michael Scheuer

  Islamic, Years, Knowing

  Source: www.pbs.org

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• When we are fighting for huge stakes - we're fighting for the future - future of the planet in terms of climate change. We're fighting for the future of American democracy.

  Bernie Sanders

  Fighting, Democracy, Climate

  Source: www.truth-out.org

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• American democracy and the Soviet system can exist simultaneously and compete peacefully. But one cannot develop into the other.

  Joseph Stalin

  Democracy, Soviet

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• That's really a part of my nature , it goes along with autonomy and independence of action - it's just that I don't identify with the local group, no matter what it is, whether it's the human species or the American democracy, the nation, the country, religions, political parties, nothing. None of these have my allegiance because I'm not really concerned with what they do. I don't feel a part of any of this.

  George Carlin

  Country, Party, Political

  Source: mikestarling.weebly.com

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• It's easier for Europeans to give money to a movie that says a blow job is what brought down American democracy.

  Julie Delpy

  Jobs, Blow, Giving

  "indieWIRE INTERVIEW | “2 Days in Paris” Director Julie Delpy". Interview with Erica Abeel, www.indiewire.com. August 8, 2007.

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• Franklin may . . . be considered one of the founding fathers of American democracy, since no democratic government can last long without conciliation and compromise.

  Samuel Eliot Morison

  Father, Government, Long

  Samuel Eliot Morison, Emily Morison Beck (1977). “Sailor Historian: The Best of Samuel Eliot Morison”

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• The survival of American democracy depends less on the size of its armies than on the capacity of its individual citizens to rely... on the strength of their own thought.

  Lewis H. Lapham

  Strength, Army, Survival

  Lewis H. Lapham (2004). “Gag Rule: On the Suppression of Dissent and the Stifling of Democracy”, p.1, Penguin

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• American democracy is a chess-game in which pawns imagine themselves to be free individuals with wills of their own: that delusion is one of the rules of the game, without which the game could not continue. I doubt anyone, no matter how sharp and sharp-tongued, could succeed in getting across to high school students how vital an acute mind is for just keeping a grip on one's life and earnings in our mendacious politics and economics. No wonder our school system is devoutly dedicated to demoralizing and blunting such minds.

  Kenny Smith

  Education, School, Games

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• They attack the victim, and then the criminal who attacked the victim accuses the victim of attacking him. This is American justice. This is American democracy and those of you who are familiar with it know that in America democracy is hypocrisy. Now, if I’m wrong, put me in jail; but if you can’t prove that democracy is not hypocrisy, then don’t put your hands on me.

  Malcolm X

  Hands, America, Jail

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