Joe Klein Quotes
Novel writing should never be confused with journalism. Unfortunately, in the case of Primary Colors, a fair number of journalists confused.
Diversity has been written into the DNA of American life; any institution that lacks a rainbow array has come to seem diminished, if not diseased.
Dictating to dictators doesn't work; they are congenitally delusional about their own indispensability.
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.
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.
We journalists are never so idiotic as when we analyze things that we shouldn't be analyzing.
For those of us who consider ourselves political moderates, life is a dispiriting slog, a sorry mix of rectitude and ineptitude.
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.
I think that if you make a strong statement of principle, even if the folks disagree with you, people will respect you for it.
I'm in favour of politicians having extra-marital relationships. Oh yeah. It makes them more understanding of the flaws that the rest of us have.
I got into journalism because I came of age in the '60s. It just seemed one way for me to get things done.
In point of fact, 'Simpson-Bowles' has become a symbol, or SimBowl, rather than an actual plan, political shorthand for the process of long-term deficit reduction.
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.
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.
You know, larger than life is always better than smaller than life in politicians. And, you know, God save us from mediocrities.
What do you do in a novel? You take recognizable characters from your own life, and you fantasize about what they're really like.
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.
We should never go to war unless we have been attacked or are under direct, immediate threat of attack. Never. And never again.
You know, larger-than-life politicians have larger-than-life strengths and larger-than-life weaknesses.
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.
For me, a really radical position for journalism to take is to stop being cynical. Cynicism is what passes for insight among the mediocre.
Barack Obama's inspirational whoosh to the presidency in 2008 was unusual. Most campaigns are less exhilarating; indeed, they are downright disappointing - until someone wins.
