Debate Quotes - Page 36

• The national debate on health-care reform wildly misses the mark, with Democrats and Republicans alike arguing about who's going to pay rather than about what would actually make people healthy.

  T. Colin Campbell

  People, Missing, Healthy

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• We have, on the whole, more liberty and less equality than Russia has. Russia has less liberty and more equality. Whether democracy should be defined primarily in terms of liberty or equality is a source of unending debate.

  Reinhold Niebuhr

  Russia, Democracy, Liberty

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• The national debate on health care once centered on improving access to quality care, yet the effect of Obamacare will be the exact opposite, resulting in the shameful degradation of care for the neediest individuals.

  Fred Upton

  Opposites, Obamacare, Quality

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• The Commission on Presidential Debates is a corrupt stranglehold on our democracy.

  Phil Donahue

  Presidential, Democracy, Presidential Debate

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• ...it is the Far Right today that establishes the terms of the nuclear debate. And in this context, in a room ringing with hysterical pleas on behalf of Reagan's eerie laser-beam technology, the MacBundys of the world seem eminently, refreshingly sane.

  David Talbot

  Technology, Eerie, Lasers

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• We are creating a political demolition derby, not a presidential debate. Those strange impulses in the American soul that have produced mud wrestling and The Gong Show seem to have claimed the national campaign.

  Hugh Sidey

  Wrestling, Creating, Presidential

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• There will be a debate on Firing Line between Buckley and Gore Vidal on the proposition: "This nation cannot survive as long as the income of 50 percent of the population is below the median." Mr. Vidal will take the affirmative.

  M. Stanton Evans

  Long, Population, Income

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• But on the other hand, in discussion and debate concerning social issues or American foreign policy, Vietnam or the Middle East, for example, the issue is constantly raised, often with considerable venom. I've repeatedly been challenged on grounds of credentials, or asked, what special training do you have that entitles you to speak of these matters. The assumption is that people like me, who are outsiders from a professional viewpoint, are not entitled to speak on such things.

  Noam Chomsky

  Hands, Issues, People

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• The weird thing about serious acting is I've always done impressions of people, all my life, and I did the thing called a balloon debate. The idea is there's a hot air balloon traveling across the Atlantic and it's going down and you have to give a speech as to why you should stay in the balloon. Six people are going to be chucked out and you want to stay.

  Tom Hiddleston

  Ideas, Air, People

  JustJared.com interview, www.justjared.com. December 21, 2011.

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• Politically, I don't care what party you're from, offer a point of view and let's see what happens and really debate the issues rather than use personal attacks. Really talk about it, talk about immigration, talk about education, talk about pollution.

  Robin Williams

  Party, Views, Issues

  "Robin Williams Interview License To Wed". Wild About Movies Interview, www.wildaboutmovies.com.

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• As far as I know, the question of whether and how it could be strategically or morally justified was never the subject of open debate in Germany after 1945, no doubt mainly because a nation which had murdered and worked to death millions of people in its camps could hardly call on the victorious powers to explain the military and political logic that dictated the destruction of the German cities.

  W. G. Sebald

  Military, Cities, People

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• These self-appointed deacons in the Church of Latter-Day American Literature seem to regard generosity (of words) with suspicion, texture with dislike, and any broad literary stroke with outright hate. The result is a strange and arid literary climate where a meaningless little fingernail paring like Nicholson Baker's Vox becomes an object of fascinated debate and dissection, and a truly ambitious American novel like Matthew's Heart of the Country is all but ignored.

  Stephen King

  Country, Hate, Heart

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• People have had certain ­assumptions in the past about ­Conservative governments, partly because of some of the things that happened in the 1980s, and partly because of the tone of some of the debate in the 1980s that appeared to say public spending on the arts was something you might want to progressively ­reduce.

  Jeremy Hunt

  Art, Past, Government

  "Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt: 'It is going to be tough'". Interview with Charlotte Higgins, www.theguardian.com. February 22, 2010.

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• It is a striking example of modern conservatism's emphasis on the moral worth of the individual. ... When I look at the debate over Elian...I have to say that rarely have I been prouder of my fellow conservatives.

  Ramesh Ponnuru

  Example, Looks, Moral

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• Lost in much of the national debate about immigration reform is how Democrats ultimately stand to gain electorally with any legislation or executive action that would put the newly legalized residents on a path to voting.

  Aaron Klein

  Voting, Immigration, Reform

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• We should all oppose - as Darwin did - views manifestly in conflict with the evidence, such as creationism... But we shouldn't set up this debate as 'religion v science'; instead we should strive for peaceful coexistence with at least the less dogmatic strands of mainstream religions, which number many excellent scientists among their adherents.

  Martin Rees

  Views, Numbers, Peaceful

  "Martin Rees: Atheists should drop anti-religion campaigns" by Ian Sample, www.theguardian.com. April 24, 2011.

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• Before the thunderous clamor of political debate or war set loose in the world, love insisted on its promise for the possibility of human unity: between men and women, between blacks and whites, northerners and southerners, haves and have-have-nots, self and self.

  Aberjhani

  War, Men, Self

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• Scientists themselves are of surprisingly little help. They find it difficult to talk of what they do because they tend to assume detailed knowledge is required for generalities to be understood. They find it hard to grasp the concept of the meaning of their work, assuming this to be a debate that takes place at a lower level than the specialized discussions with their colleagues. When they do generalize, - or "popularize" as it is usually called with a noticeable degree of contempt - they tend to reveal a startling philosophical naiveté.

  Bryan Appleyard

  Philosophical, Levels, Littles

  Bryan Appleyard (2004). “Understanding the Present: An Alternative History of Science”, p.18, Tauris Parke Paperbacks

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• President Bush said yesterday that it was appropriate for the White House to invoke Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers's religion in making the case for her to skeptical conservatives, triggering a debate over what role, if any, her evangelical faith should play in the confirmation battle.

  Peter Baker

  White, Yesterday, Play

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• When there is information, there is enlightenment. When there is debate, there are solutions.

  Atifete Jahjaga

  Accountability, Enlightenment, Information

  "Kosovar President Atifete Jahjaga: the Four Key Ingredients for Peace". thehill.com. June 14, 2012.

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• John Kerry says that he wants to debate President Bush once a month until the election. This could be a risky move for Senator Kerry. If Bush doesn't show up for the debates, John Kerry may end up debating an empty chair. And that could be pretty much a toss up as to which one has the better personality.

  Jay Leno

  Moving, Personality, President

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• During the Democratic presidential debate Howard Dean started off by apologizing to the crowd for having a cold. Then John Kerry apologized for once having a cold while serving his country in Vietnam.

  Conan O'Brien

  Country, Presidential, Vietnam

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• The debate analysis in the media is rampant with contest analogies of war, baseball, boxing, football; you name it. Any testosterone contest imaginable is fair game.

  Jonathan Raymond

  Baseball, Football, War

  "McCain Acts Like A Tough-Guy; We Need A Gentleman" by Jon Raymond, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 28, 2008.

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• Big news from last night's Republican debate, you guys. It turns out George Bush was actually the smart Texas governor.

  Jimmy Fallon

  Smart, Night, Texas

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• Tonight was the CNN primary debate with the four remaining candidates. It was kind of a change for Newt Gingrich. Usually when he's arguing with three people at once, it's his wife, his ex-wife, and his mistress.

  Jay Leno

  Cnn, Wife, People

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