Vaclav Havel was the most amazing man in terms of being the combination of somebody with massive moral authority, great courage for having espoused the concepts of democracy, freedom throughout a very difficult communist period, a very modest man, and somebody with a fabulous sense of humor and the idea of being able to see the absurd in situations.

Judy Woodruff

Categorized in : Ideas Men Democracy

There are many things we can live without but a sense of humor is not one of them!

Judy Woodruff

sense-of-humor

But I want to pay tribute to Anna Lee Woodruff, an extraordinary, selfless woman and beautiful grandmother who in her quiet determined way was a role model for her two daughters, and who left a lasting impression on so many who knew her.

Judy Woodruff

daughter mother beautiful

If you spend enough time in or around Washington, you'll meet amazing people who work for the government.

Judy Woodruff

enough-time government people

I think even Republicans are saying [Andrew] Puzder may have a problem.

Judy Woodruff

problem may thinking

My job is to try and bring attention to places that don't have it

Judy Woodruff

trying attention jobs

As the mother of a grown son with a traumatic brain injury, I couldn't be more excited about the prospect of finding out how to repair even a small part of the damage that changed his life.

Judy Woodruff

mother brain son

My mother was adored by her family and by the scores of children she took care of and their parents, all of whom called her 'Miss Woody.

Judy Woodruff

parent mother children

Donald Trump rejected charges of ties between his campaign and Russia, blasted the intelligence community for leaks, and repeatedly attacked the news media. The president said he inherited a mess at home and abroad, but he dismissed the notion of a White House in turmoil.

Judy Woodruff

community house home

I think he [Vaclav Havel] probably would have liked to have written more plays. I think he missed being a playwright.I think he talked about wanting to write plays and keep appealing to people through that medium, rather than politics.

Judy Woodruff

play writing thinking

For the past 21 years, I've been privileged to be part of an amazing organization called the International Women's Media Foundation.

Judy Woodruff

media past years

You can find inspiration when you're not even looking for it.

Judy Woodruff

inspiration

People put on their earphones, they lay out their phones, they put - open up their computers, and they convince themselves that they're most productive when they're focused on their e-mail, when, really, they're ignoring the cafeteria, the watercooler, the meetings with colleagues, the times when really the creativity, collaboration happens.

Judy Woodruff

creativity phones people

If image is everything, how can the Democratic presidential hopefuls compete with a President fresh from a war victory.

Judy Woodruff

presidential air war

Is this administration, the Clinton administration, an administration that needed defending?

Judy Woodruff

administration clinton needed

And I've been incredibly lucky to have a long career in journalism that has given me a front-row seat to some of the most important moments in modern American political life.

Judy Woodruff

political careers long

The president-elect Donald Trump moved a bit closer to getting his Cabinet in place with another round of confirmation hearings. The most contentious was for his treasury secretary pick, Steven Mnuchin, a billionaire banker who worked at Goldman Sachs and owned a hedge fund. There was important news that came out during the hearing. Mnuchin said that he would support raising the debt ceiling sooner rather than later, and not risk the country defaulting.

Judy Woodruff

support risk country

It's always unfortunate when a reporter is sent behind bars for failing to turn over sources. There's no way to say what the long-term outcome will be.

Judy Woodruff

outcomes long way

Some days you feel like you've had the greatest ego massage, then the next day you've been trampled on.

Judy Woodruff

massage next-day ego

He was a lifelong Republican, but over the years, Harry Blackmun built a reputation as a liberal, sometimes defiant Justice, whose fierce protection of individual rights led some to anoint him the moral conscience of the court.

Judy Woodruff

rights justice years

What I think the appeal of the [Donald] Trump program has been is that it offers some kind of concrete, specific, historically rooted, a familiar image of how ordinary Americans, regular Americans can earn their living.

Judy Woodruff

kind ordinary thinking