The unique perspective and provocative opinions of Joe O’Neill
Quoteworthy
“Xenophobic
and racist discourse breeds hate crimes.”—Martha Barcena, the Mexican
ambassador to the U.S.
“It
worked in Panama, it worked in Nicaragua once … and it will work in Venezuela
and Cuba.”—John Bolton, President Donald Trump’s national security
adviser, on the imposition of a full economic embargo on Venezuela.
“Repression
must end. The Cuban people deserve freedoms of press, expression, association
and more.”—Mara Tekach, chief of the U.S. Embassy in Havana.
“We
should say to the Chinese: ‘You now are our economic equal.’ Give them that
dignity. And tell them we want to restart these negotiations on the basis of
total reciprocity. We should both have the same rules of access to each other’s
economies.”—Jim McGregor, chairman of APCO China.
“Puerto
Rico needs assurance and stability.”—Justice Secretary Wanda Vazquez,
Puerto Rico’s new governor, the third within six days.
“We are not helpless here. But until all of
us stand up and insist on holding public officials accountable for changing our
gun laws, these tragedies will keep happening.”—Former President Barack
Obama.
“Perhaps
even more than the morally bankrupt Trump, Mitch McConnel is the worst among
us. He sees evil and does nothing but permit it to flourish. He and his profit
at the expense of others. He closes his heart to what is right and good about
America.”—Ann McFeatters, Tribune Content Agency.
“We
can’t fix a problem if we refuse to name it: white nationalism. An ideology
emboldened by a president who stokes the flames of hatred and coddles white
supremacists with messages of support.”—Former Vice President Joe Biden.
“We
need to call out white nationalism for what it is—domestic terrorism. And we
need to call out the president himself for advancing racism and white
supremacy.”—Sen.Elizabeth Warren.
“(Trump’s)
a moral arsonist.”—Frank Bruni, New York Times.
“President
Trump is serving up to our adversaries an ever more divided and weakened
America, one that is animated by suspicion, rived by hatred of the “other” and
increasingly incapable of uniting in the face of external threats. … Dictators
around the world encounter no opprobrium from our government and are comforted
to find a fellow traveler in rhetoric and policies that demean his own
people.”—Susan E. Rice, former U.S. ambassador to the UN and former
national security adviser to President Barack Obama.
“Most
of the time, mass shooters aren’t driven by delusions or voices in their head.
They are driven by a need to wield their power over another group. They are
angry at the perceived injustices that have befallen them at the hands of
others. … It’s not an altered perception of reality that drives them; it’s
entitlement, insecurity and hatred.”—Amy Barnhorst,Psychology Today.
“The
white supremacist terrorists and the white supremacist policymakers are bound
at the hip.”—Charles M. Blow, New York Times.
“We
live in a precarious moment in this Trump era, in which a seat on the federal
bench demands a prerequisite fealty to an expansive reading of personal gun
rights under the Second Amendment.”—Robert Spitzer, chair of the
political science department at SUNY Cortland and the author of “The Politics
of Gun Control.”
“The
Mueller report may turn out to be more of a film noir than anything else. The
detective successfully uncovers the plot, only to discover that the society
around him is too rotten to do anything about it.”—Quinta Jurecic,Lawfare.
“Every
single person in the Justice Department … knew that (Jeffrey Epstein) was a
suicide risk, and that his dark secrets couldn’t be allowed to die with
him.”—Nebraska Republican Sen. Ben Sasse, a member of the Senate
Judiciary Committee.
“Bigger
is better if you’re going after digital reach.”—Doug Arthur, Huber
Research analyst, on the merger of Gannett and Gatehouse Media, America’s two
largest newspaper publishers.
“We
die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the
measure of our lives.”—The late Nobel Laureate novelist Toni Morrison.
“You
are too intelligent to believe in God.”—The very first words of Ayn Rand
upon meeting William F. Buckley for the first time.
“We
don’t really see an end to the uncertainty at any time soon.”—Sameer Samana,
senior global market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute.
“The stability of food supply is projected
to decrease as the magnitude and frequency of extreme weather events that
disrupt food chains increases.”—United Nations report.
“We
need to listen to scientists on the climate crisis. Not Ted Nugent.”–Congresswoman
Kathy Castor, chair of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate
Crisis.
“This
is a great opportunity to engage the community and promote the values that make
this country strong, prosperous, safe and great!”—Republican Party of
Florida email announcing that the party would be holding a voter
registration drive at a South Florida gun show.
“Where
we think the world’s going is … how do you curate the experience when you’re
there? To us, that’s kind of what makes a great place.”—Nicholas Harris,
CEO of Bromley Cos., the developer of the $500 million, mixed-used Midtown
Tampa project.
“I
think the conference is going to put Tampa on the map as an absolute welcoming
place for LGBT business to occur.”—Justin Nelson, president of the
National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, on the impact of Tampa hosting the
International Business & Leadership Conference, the largest LGBT business
gathering in the world.