History doesn't turn on a dime; it turns on a plugged nickel. Jeff Greenfield More Quotes by Jeff Greenfield More Quotes From Jeff Greenfield More things in politics happen by accident or exhaustion than happen by conspiracy. Jeff Greenfield conspiracy politics political The niftiest turn of phrase, the most elegant flight of rhetorical fancy, isn't worth beans next to a clear thought clearly expressed. Jeff Greenfield fancy next phrases Men and women in my lifetime have died fighting for the right to vote: people like James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, who were murdered while registering black voters in Mississippi in 1964, and Viola Liuzzo, who was murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1965 during the Selma march for voting rights. Jeff Greenfield fighting rights men In politics, Bugs Bunny always beats Daffy Duck. Daffy's always going berserk, jumping up and down, yelling. Bugs's got that sly smile, like he always knows what's up, like nothing can ruffle him. Jeff Greenfield yelling ducks jumping Well, politics is war, and in war, truth is the first casualty. Jeff Greenfield truth-is war firsts After immersing myself in the mysteries of the Electoral College for a novel I wrote in the '90s, I came away believing that the case for scrapping it is less obvious than I originally thought. Jeff Greenfield mystery college believe In every debate, whatever the format, whatever the questions, there is one and only one way to identify the winner: Who commands the room? Who drives the narrative? Who is in charge? Jeff Greenfield narrative way rooms There are good people who are dealt a bad hand by fate, and bad people who live long, comfortable, privileged lives. A small twist of fate can save or end a life; random chance is a permanent, powerful player in each of our lives, and in human history as well. Jeff Greenfield fate powerful player Somebody is going to have to do fancy footwork to make sure Elizabeth and John Edwards get their prime-time shot . Jeff Greenfield prime fancy shots As a general proposition, campaigns do not linger on the vice presidential nominee. When they have, it's always meant very bad news for the ticket. Think of Spiro Agnew's foot-in-mouth disease; Tom Eagleton's medical history; the real estate holdings of Geraldine Ferraro's husband; the unbearable lightness of Dan Quayle; Sarah Palin's reading list. Jeff Greenfield husband real reading As a personal matter, I stopped voting more than a decade ago, on the grounds that it helped me as an analyst not to think about making a choice in the voting booth. Jeff Greenfield voting choices thinking This is part of the involuntary bargain we make with the world just by being alive. We get to experiences the splendor of nature, the beauty of art, the balm of love and the sheer joy of existence, always with the knowledge that illness, injury, natural disaster, or pure evil can end it in an instant for ourselves or someone we love. Jeff Greenfield evil joy art By every measure, John Kennedy's sex life was compulsive and reckless. At one level, it had clear public consequences. Knowledge of Kennedy's behavior gave FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover absolute job security, as well as the potential power to derail Kennedy's re-election had he survived assassination. Jeff Greenfield jobs directors sex Conservatives may worship Adam Smith's 'invisible hand,' but for Obama, the helping hand comes in large measure from the public, not the private sector. To call this 'socialism' is to do violence to the word and to the concept. To call it 'un-American' is a smear. Jeff Greenfield invisible-hand may hands F.D.R. had to deal with Southern segregationists - and outright racists - who held power in Congress, so he had to yield to that power in order to get his New Deal legislation passed. Jeff Greenfield yield southern order I grew up in New York City, where we played highly unorganized sports: stick ball, stoop ball, and the occasional game of baseball with no adult supervision. Jeff Greenfield baseball new-york sports If Obama's vision of the public sector is socialism, then so too were the visions of Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon. Jeff Greenfield harry-truman dwight-eisenhower vision Protestations of indifference to higher office are hard to take seriously when the 'non-candidate' is busily engaged in testing the waters. Jeff Greenfield indifference office water In another life, before taking the veil of journalistic purity, I practiced the black arts of a political operative, including 'debate prep. Jeff Greenfield black political art I got into writing and thinking about politics because I was told there would be no math. Jeff Greenfield math writing thinking
