Politicians From New York City

"Tonight we took another big step toward a fairer city for all, tonight another ratification of all that we’ve been doing together and it’s going to give us the fuel to go farther."

"What makes America great is the idea that when government is limited and decisions are made closest to the people they impact, people are free — free to work, free to live, free to choose, free to fail and free to achieve. The America I know provides everyone an equal opportunity to be as unequaled as they choose to be. The America I know gives back. Americans, regardless of financial status, are the most giving people on the planet. On their own, without government requirement, our people give their money, their time and their attention to causes, communities and people in need whether it is across the street or around the world. I’ve experienced this generosity throughout my life and during my battle with cancer. I am so grateful."

"I became a member of the Party in January, 1933, in the heat of battle. At the time, I was serving as defense attorney for Angelo Herndon in Atlanta, Georgia, where Herndon, an eighteen-year-old Negro youth, had been framed on a charge of inciting to insurrection. ... Of what was Herndon "guilty"? He had led a demonstration of unemployed Negro and white workers to City Hall, had been found with a couple of Communist pamphlets in his possession, and possessed a firm and inspiringly defiant advocacy of the freedom of Negroes and of the liberation of the white masses from exploitation. The "dangerous" policy he then espoused as a Communist, was the unity of the Negroes in the South with the impoverished white workers and poor farmers."

"The America I know is great — not because government made it great but because ordinary citizens like me, like my parents and like you are given the opportunity every day to do extraordinary things. That is the America I know!"

"Let me tell you about the America I know. My parents immigrated to the United States with $10 in their pocket and a belief that the America they had heard about really did exist as the land of opportunity. Through hard work and great sacrifice they achieved success — so the America I came to know growing up was filled with all the excitement found in living the American dream. I was taught to love this country, warts and all, and understand I had a role to play in our nation’s future. I learned to passionately believe in the possibilities and promise of America."

"Some have forgotten the math of America — whenever you divide you diminish. What I know is that the goodness and compassion of the American people is a multiplier that simply cannot be measured. The goodness and greatness of our country is multiplied when neighbors help neighbors, when we reach out to those in need and build better citizens and more heroic communities. You see, the America I know is built by citizens and leaders who respect, strengthen and serve each other not based on race, gender or economic status but because we are Americans! We all have a role to play in uniting the country around the principles that have made us extraordinary."

"Couching this column as a “dying wish” felt a little dramatic, even for a drama person like me. We are not certain how long this season of my battle will be and I do want to share, and reshare, some things with the world that I passionately believe. I write all of this as my “living wish” and hopefully “enduring wish” for you. -->"

"Whether one agrees with the Communist Party or not, one must at least know the truth about it. One must not permit his ideas to be shaped by the hysteria which now passes as a "crusade against Communism." ... For example, the canard that every Communist has his pockets lined with "Moscow gold." If that were true, one could be sure that there would scarcely be any room in our party for workers. The capitalists, to whom gold is god of the universe, would crowd them out."

"I can see on the horizon that our best and brightest days as a nation are still to come. The America I know deserves leaders who trust the people and will tell them the hard truth about where we are and what we need to do in order to preserve our future. We need leaders who are prepared to engage in a dialogue about realities, priorities and solving America’s problems."

"Demands Ben Davis fought for, bans on biased textbooks and the lifting of bans on such books as authored by Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Howard Fast and other outstanding writers; whose writings are feared. Davis urged restoration of progressive teachers to their posts and the exclusion of biased white supremacist and anti-Semitic instructors in our schools;"

"As a Negro American, I want to be free. I want equal opportunities, equal rights; I want to be accorded the same dignity as a human being and the same status as a citizen as any other American. This is my constitutional right. I want first-class, unconditional citizenship. I want it, and am entitled to it, now."

"I have always felt that it was character that counts in this country. The America I know, while far from perfect, is the place where we strive every day to live up to the principles Dr. Martin Luther King declared from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. We will be judged in the end, individually and as a nation, by the content of our character. The America I know isn’t just my story and it isn’t just your story. It is our story. It is a story of endless possibilities, human struggle, standing up and striving for more. Our story has been told for well over 200 years, punctuated by small steps and giant leaps; from a woman on a bus to a man with a dream; from the bravery of the greatest generation to the explorers, entrepreneurs, reformers and innovators of today. This is our story. This is the America we know — because we built it — together."

"There is this... that must be admired about DuBois, Robeson, Ben Davis and others. They are not taking it lying down. Ben Davis is in prison... Robeson has sacrificed... DuBois has fought without let up for over half a century and at 85 be is determined as ever. Some day when truth gets a hearing, America, regardless of colour, we will honour them."

"As my season of life begins to draw to a close, I still passionately believe that we can revive the American story we know and love. I am convinced that our citizens must remember the principles of our story so that our children, and those seeking freedom around the world, will know where to look to find a place for their story. We must fight to keep the America we know as that shining city on a hill — truly the last best hope on earth. Like Benjamin Franklin and countless patriots down through the ages, I believe the American experiment is not a setting sun but a rising sun."

"The President’s behavior towards me made me wonder: What did he have to gain by saying such a thing about a fellow Republican? It was not really about asking him to do more, was it? Or was it something else? … However, this gave me a clear vision of his world as it is. No real relationships, just convenient transactions. That is an insufficient way to implement sincere service and policy. This election experience and these comments shines a spotlight on the problems Washington politicians have with minorities and black Americans – it’s transactional, it’s not personal. … You see, we feel like politicians claim they know what’s best for us from a safe distance, yet they’re never willing to take us home. Because Republicans never take minority communities into their home and citizens into their homes and into their hearts, they stay with Democrats and bureaucrats in Washington because they do take them home — or at least make them feel like they have a home."

"My dear friends, fellow Americans and Utahns. I am taking up my pen, not to say goodbye but to say thank you and express my living wish for you and the America I know. My battle with brain cancer is coming to an end. The disease is no longer responding to treatment and my family and I have shifted our focus from treatments, to enjoying every moment and making memories with the time we have. My life has been extended by exceptional medical care, science and extraordinary professionals who have become dear friends. My extra season of life has also been the result of the faith and prayers of countless friends, known and unknown. The result of such humble faith and pleading prayers have been felt by me and my family in ways too numerous to count. I have always believed that faith and science are inextricably interconnected. <!-- As a mayor, member of congress and media commentator I have seen the worst of petty politics, divisive rhetoric and disappointing lapses of moral character by some. These same roles also provided me a front row seat and backstage pass to be blessed and inspired by the courage, vision and hope of America’s finest daughters, sons and citizens."

"In the end, I hope that my life will have mattered and made a difference for the nation I love and the family and friends I adore. I hope you will see the America I know in the years ahead, that you will hear my words in the whisper of the wind of freedom and feel my presence in the flame of the enduring principles of liberty. My living wish and fervent prayer for you and for this nation is that the America I have known, is the America you fight to preserve and that each citizen, and every leader, will do their part to ensure that the America we know will be the America our grandchildren and great grandchildren will inherit."

"Each child born and unborn has the potential to open up our world and take us to places and spaces we've never imagined … Each living child carries with him or her the potential for greatness. … Every time we kill a child, we, all of us, suffer … We lose a little of ourselves and a whole lot of our future. … Forty-one years ago that couple from Haiti could have made the choice to abort, but they didn’t. They chose life. They didn’t choose what might have been; they chose what is to come. They went and followed and fostered that life, and the future and the dreams that baby would bring. … I'm certain that this couple would never have thought that that child would become the first black female Republican ever to be elected to Congress."

"In fact, the drive against the Communists is aimed, above all, against the labor movement."

"Who is loyal to America and its democratic traditions? James Byrnes: governor of South Carolina, who equates the role of the NAACP and KKK, correctly assailed by Thurgood Marshall as "fascist McCarthyism rampant with racism"? Or Ben Davis - whose eloquent voice against Jim Crow scathes Byrnes and all the racists even from behind prison bars? Yes, To Believe In Negro Freedom Means To Be Radical!"

"Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost."

"The trouble is that the party’s been chasin’ after theories and stayin’ up nights readin’ books instead of studyin’ human nature and actin’ accordin’, as I've advised in tellin’ how to hold your district. p. 88"

"I think every man would be better off if he didn’t take any intoxicatin’ drink at all, but as men will drink, they ought to have good stuff without impoverishin’ themselves by goin’ to fancy places and without riskin’ death by goin’ to poor places. p. 86"

"Brought up in Tammany Hall, he has learned how to reach the hearts of the great mass of voters. He does not bother about reaching their heads. It is his belief that arguments and campaign literature have never gained votes. p. 91"

"The Democratic party of the nation ain’t dead, though it’s been givin’ a lifelike imitation of a corpse for several years. p. 88"

"Ought these good people be subjected to the immoral influence of money taken from the saloon tainted money? Out of respect for the tender consciences of these pious people, the Raines law ought to exempt them from all contamination from the plunder that comes from the saloon traffic. Say, mark that sarcastic. Some people who ain’t used to fine sarcasm might think I meant it. p. 85"

"Before midnight we were all in bed, and next mornin’ we were up bright and early attendin’ to business, while other men were nursin’ swelled heads. Is there anything the matter with temperance as a pure business proposition? p. 80"

"Big Tim made money out of liquor—sellin’ it to other people. That’s the only way to get good out of liquor. p. 79"

"Oh, yes, that is a good way to do up the so-called bosses, but have you ever thought what would become of the country if the bosses were put out of business, and their places were taken by a lot of cart-tail orators and college graduates? It would mean chaos. p. 81"

"The most successful saloonkeepers don’t drink themselves and they understand that my temperance is a business proposition, just like their own. p. 77"

"I want to add that no matter how well you learn to play the political game, you won’t make a lastin’ success of it if you're a drinkin’ man. p. 77"

"I honestly believe that drink is the greatest curse of the day, except, of course, civil service, and that it has driven more young men to ruin than anything except civil service examinations. p. 78"

"How nice it is for the people to feel that they can get up in the mornin’ without bein’ afraid of seein’ in the papers that the Commissioner of Water Supply has sandbagged the Dock Commissioner, and that the Mayor and heads of the departments have been taken to the police court as witnesses! p. 82"

"Of course, the day may come when we’ll reject the money of the rich as tainted, but it hadn’t come when I left Tammany Hall at 11:25 A.M. today. p. 73"

"The name-parted-in-the-middle aristocrats act in just the same way. They don’t want to be annoyed with firecrackers and the Declaration of Independence, and when they see the Fourth comin’ they hustle off to the woods like my dog. p. 71"

"The man is picked out and somehow he gets to understand what’s expected of him in the way of a contribution, and he ponies up—all from gratitude to the organization that honored him, see? p. 74"

"Just remember that there’s thirty-five Assembly districts in New York County, and thirty-six district leaders reachin’ out for the Tammany dough-bag for somethin’ to keep up the patriotism of ten thousand workers, and you wouldn’t wonder that the cry for more, more, is goin’ up from every district organization now and forevermore. Amen. p. 76"

"Say, I don’t wish I was a poet, for if I was, I guess I’d be livin’ in a garret on no dollars a week instead of runnin’ a great contractin’ and transportation business which is doin’ pretty well, thank you; but, honest, now, the notion takes me sometimes to yell poetry of the red-hot-hail-glorious-land kind when I think of New York City as a state by itself. p. 67"

"Then will return the good old times, when our district leaders could have nice comfortable primary elections at some place selected by themselves and let in only men that they approved of as good Democrats. p. 83"

"The Raines liquor law is infamous. It takes away nearly all the profits of the saloonkeepers, and then turns in a large part of the money to the State treasury to relieve the hayseeds from taxes. p. 84"

"Say, ain’t some of the papers awful gullible about politics? p. 59"

"Jimmy O’Brien brought the manufacture of “Democracies” down to an exact science, and reduced the cost of production so as to bring it within the reach of all. Any man with $50 can now have a “Democracy” of his own. p. 58"

"There’s always a certain number of suckers and a certain number of men lookin’ for a chance to take them in, and the suckers are sure to be took one way or another. It’s the everlastin’ law of demand and supply. p. 60"

"Who is better fitted to run the railroads and the gas plants and the ferries than the men who make a business of lookin’ after the interests of the city? p. 54"

"Don't show off your learning; that's just another way of style."

"You can’t be patriotic on a salary that just keeps the wolf from the door. p. 56"

"What’s the use of havin’ ill-smellin’ gashouses if there’s no votes in them? p. 62"

"He eats corned beef and kosher meat with equal nonchalance, and it’s all the same to him whether he takes off his hat in the church or pulls it down over his ears in the synagogue. p. 48"

"Most of the leaders are plain American citizens, of the people and near to the people, and they have all the education they need to whip the dudes who part their name in the middle and to run the City Government. p. 45"

"Putin’ on style don’t pay in politics. p. 50"