“It'd make a wonderful change to have the leader of a pluralist democracy who acted on that, who told people just how tough things are going to be, just what's going to have to be done - and, maybe, ran all the risks on the side of honesty, rather than spinning stories and trying to win the headlines every day.” PeopleTryingDoneStoriesWinningSidesLeaderDemocracyWonderfulRiskHonestyToughRanOld PeopleSpinningHeadlinesTough Things Author:Chris Patten
“What created democracy was Thomas Paine and Shays Rebellion, the suffragists and the abolitionists and on down through the populists and the labor movement, including the Wobblies. Tough, in your face people... Mother Jones, Woody Guthrie... Martin Luther King and Caesar Chavez. And now it’s down to us.” PeopleFacesMotherDemocracyMovementKingsToughLaborIncludingRebellionYour FaceLutherWoodyPopulistAbolitionistLabor MovementPaineChavezShaySuffragists Author:Jim Hightower
“I want the Iraqis to understand that we are with them and that they have to make tough decisions, and we'll help them make those tough decisions for this country, for this democracy to survive. And they've made some tough decisions.” WantMadeCountryHelpingDecisionDemocracyToughTough Decisions Author:George W. Bush
“If you've worked together with somebody very well, leave-taking is very difficult. But we are all politicians. We all know that democracy lives off change. So, in the United States of America, the Constitution has very clear stipulations on this. It's a tough rule. Eight years and that's it, out goes the president and a new one comes in.” IfsKnowsYearsWellsStatesTogetherAmericaDifficultPresidentUnitedUnited StatesDemocracyClearPoliticianToughConstitutionEightUnited States Of AmericaStipulations Author:Angela Merkel
“It doesn't matter what a majority of Americans say. George W.Bush is going to do what he thinks he must do. And history may be tough on him in the next ten years but I guess he rationalizes that in fifty or 100 years they'll bless us because there will be - maybe not in his lifetime, but someday-a democratic Iraq emulating the United States in its liberalism, in its fair-mindedness, and that democracy will spread to Iran and Syria, and that whole part of the Middle East will be happy, and terrorism will be gone, and the Israelis will be flourishing, and the oil will flow. That's his vision.” ThinkingVisionDemocracyToughDemocraticLifetimeSpreadTerrorismLiberalismBlessSyria Author:Seymour Hersh
“Totalitarian regimes produce a culture and a moral code that is totally different from what happens in a democracy. There are two moral categories in a communist society: honest men and bad men. The "honest" ones resist compromising or collaborating with the regime, while the "bad" are the persecutors and collaborators. You can choose to be on one side or the other, but there is nothing in between. In a normal society, other factors can define who you are. You can be a good worker, sociable, tough, generous, tolerant, collaborative, friendly.” MenDifferentCultureMoralDemocracyHonestToughWho You AreCompromiseCodeGenerousFriendlyCommunistGood Work Author:Luljeta Lleshanaku
“Democracy doesn't require a whole lot of work of its citizens, but it requires some: It requires taking a good look outside once in a while, and considering the bad news and what it might mean, and making the occasional tough choice, and soberly taking stock of what your real interests are.” LooksMeanRealWholeMightChoicesInterestDemocracyCitizensNewsToughConsideringLooking GoodOccasionalBad NewsTough Choices Author:Matt Taibbi