Political courage requires clarity. The Obama Administration chose the tortured route of arguing the legality of the individual mandate via the interstate commerce clause for one simple reason: it did not want to take the political risk of allowing opponents to call it a tax increase. That was stupid. The Republicans were calling it a tax increase anyway.

Joe Klein

Categorized in : Political Clarity Political Courage

Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre. by Joe Klein

Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre.

mediocre cynicism insight

I've been described as a grizzled political veteran. by Joe Klein

I've been described as a grizzled political veteran.

veteran political

For those of us who consider ourselves political moderates, life is a dispiriting slog, a sorry mix of rectitude and ineptitude.

ineptitude political sorry

You can be as critical as you want of Black Lives Matter. I'm critical of him, too. But to say that they have caused shooting of police officers, I think is a bridge too far.

police black thinking

I can't believe that Hillary Clinton wants the world to think that whenever she gets into political trouble, she's going to have her husband come roaring about, breaking furniture, sucking up oxygen, spewing carbon dioxide. My impression is that she's strong enough to defend herself - she certainly showed that in the recent Democratic debate. But apparently she's not strong enough to control Mr. Bill. And if that's the case, any sane voter would have to think twice before enabling this sort of circus act in the White House.

husband strong believe

You can't get all of your news from Jon Stewart, especially since... by Joe Klein

You can't get all of your news from Jon Stewart, especially since it's a comedy show.

news comedy shows

Novel writing should never be confused with journalism. Unfortunately, in the case of Primary Colors, a fair number of journalists confused.

confused color writing

I believe, I believe that the people who voted in those primaries for Donald Trump were at least helping him along with his message of hate toward immigrants, toward Muslims.

hate believe people

I got into journalism because I came of age in the '60s. It just seemed one way for me to get things done.

done age way

Anonymous sources are a practice of American journalism in the 20th and 21st century, a relatively recent practice. The literary tradition of anonymity goes back to the Bible.

journalism tradition practice

Bush promised a foreign policy of humility and a domestic policy of compassion. He has given us a foreign policy of arrogance and a domestic policy that is cynical, myopic and cruel.

cynical compassion humility

The two-war strategy was a product of the cold war, when we had to have the ability to fight the Russians on the plains of Europe and fight the Chinese on the Korean peninsula at the same time. That costs an awful lot of money.

fighting europe war

You know, larger-than-life politicians have larger-than-life strengths and larger-than-life weaknesses.

larger-than-life weakness politician

The Democrats current crudeness is a function of their desperation, and the imminent ratification of Howard Dean, the least charming presidential candidate in recent memory, as their party chairman only serves to punctuate the problem.

presidential party memories

I believe that poverty is often the result of inappropriate behavior - out-of-wedlock births, dropping out of school, crime and drugs - which should not be rewarded. But often it isn't, and common decency requires that we take care of the least of these.

inappropriate-behavior believe school

We`re facing a very different sort of threat now, a more amorphous threat, al Qaeda, terrorism, and so on. And so the military has abandoned the two-war strategy.

military war two

Americans who feel the most ignored these days are not the screamers. They are the solid citizens who are sick to death of pols who play to the rant.

citizens sick play

I came to political consciousness with John F. Kennedy's magnificent 1961 Inaugural Address. It seemed the start of something fresh and exciting, and it was.

addresses consciousness political

George W. Bush will surely deserve that woolliest of all peace pr... by Joe Klein

George W. Bush will surely deserve that woolliest of all peace prizes, the Nobel.

prize nobel deserve

Bill Clinton gives the appearance of taking stands-for some sort of tax cut, some sort of welfare reform, some sort of balanced budget-but these are ploys, mirages: they exist only to undermine positions taken by the Republicans. He doesn't fight for anything substantive-except of course, re-election. ...He has fallen into the dangerous habit of lip synching the presidency: he gives the appearance of leadership, but not the substance.

cutting fighting taken