“The left is entering a new phase of ideological agitation no longer trying to win the debate but stopping debate altogether, banishing from public discourse any and all opposition. The proper word for that attitude is totalitarian. It declares certain controversies over and visits serious consequences from social ostracism to vocational defenestration upon those who refuse to be silenced.” TryingCertainWinningLeftSocialAttitudeSeriousConsequenceRefuseDebateOppositionPhasesDiscourseStoppingEnteringControversyIdeologicalAgitationPublic DiscourseOstracismSocial Ostracism Author:Charles Krauthammer
“In the national debate about a serious issue, it is the expression of the minority's viewpoint that most demands the protection of the First Amendment. Whatever the better policy may be, a full and frank discussion of the costs and benefits of the attempt to prohibit the use of marijuana is far wiser than suppression of speech because it is unpopular.” FirstsMayUseIssuesPolicySeriousExpressionCostDemandSpeechBenefitsProtectionDebateDiscussionMinoritiesMarijuanaAmendmentsFrankFreedom Of SpeechWiserFirst AmendmentViewpointsSuppressionSerious Issues Author:John Paul Stevens
“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.” PeopleWantGivingShouldIdeasDoneActingAirSeriousSpeechSixHotDown AndDebateImpressionBalloonsWeird ThingsHot AirAir BalloonsHot Air Balloons Author:Tom Hiddleston
“We can't accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause becomes immoral and unjust and they should be eliminated from any serious discussion, any serious debate.” PeopleShouldUsePoliticalCausesSeriousTerrorismDebateInnocentDiscussionUnjustImmoralSlaughterAccommodate Author:Rudy Giuliani
“When you are young in this world, you believe that the class of deductive truths about social matters is larger than it turns out to be. [...] I have discovered, to my infinite regret, that most of the serious debates over the basic principles of any political order have an irreducible empirical content.” WorldBelieveMatterYoungPoliticalOrderTurnsSocialClassPrinciplesThis WorldSeriousRegretInfiniteDebateBasic Principles Author:Richard Allen Epstein
“Politics has become a game of meaningless, mindless battles, conducted by unscrupulous methods and people, designed to transform even the most serious policy debates into sport.” PeopleGamesSportsPolicySeriousBattleMethodDebateMeaninglessMindlessPolicy Debate Author:Al Gore
“Thanks to the European Union, Ireland has a much more open climate of discussion and debate, as you can see in the media. It means that we are a more questioning society, perhaps more honestly prepared to address serious issues and problems, more open to the idea that different viewpoints should be heard and respected.” ShouldMeanIdeasDifferentProblemIssuesHeardMediaSeriousUnionsPreparedClimateHonestlyDebateThanksDiscussionAddressesIrelandQuestioningEuropean UnionViewpointsSerious Issues Author:Mary Robinson
“When George W.Bush attacked Afghanistan, it was widely hailed, and the failure of our war there wasn't understood. Within a few months of attacking Afghanistan, Bush clearly moved on to get ready for Iraq, long before Osama bin Laden or Al Qaeda were dispensed with. There was never any serious debate in the press about whether even the notion that every Taliban was our enemy was valid. A lot of assumptions about that war were never challenged.” LongWarEnemySeriousMovedDebateAssumptionAfghanistanBin LadenAl QaedaTalibanOsama Bin Laden Author:Seymour Hersh