REWIND - A Week of Quotes & Cartoons

SUNDAY

Quote of the Day
November 28, 2010

'America needs a rally - or, better still, a leader or
two or three - to restore not just honor or sanity to
its citizens but governance that's not auctioned off to
the highest bidder. When it was reported just days
before our election that Iran was protecting its
political interests in Afghanistan's presidential
palace by giving bags of money to Hamid Karzai's
closest aide, Americans could hardly bring themselves
to be outraged. At least with Karzai's government,
unlike our own, we could know for certain whose cash
was in the bag.'

Columnist Frank Rich
New York Times
November 28, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/28xhfxp

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/2e28mqp
Don't Trust, Don't Verify
David Horsey - Seattle PI

MONDAY

Quote of the Day
November 29, 2010

'Every year has been marked by acts of resistance to
the policy of austerity. I have been criss-crossing the
country for several weeks, meeting thousands of people,
workers, young and old, retired, and I felt widespread
awareness of the strike called across the country. Many
unions, as well as the CGTP and the UGT, have announced
their participation, particularly in banking, the
press, but also in the oil sector, transportation and
the motor industry. The mobilization is very strong,
not only in the public sector, as we saw with the
demonstration on November 6 which was attended by over
100,000 people in Lisbon, but also in the private
sector, despite pressure from employers and despite the
fact that 30 percent of employees are in a precarious
situation. These are mostly young people working at the
minimum wage.

'For this reason, this strike is a big challenge for
the younger generation, a chance to react to the
injustices they face. We are in a situation that
unfortunately can be described as historic: for the
first time since the Second World War, young people
have no prospects, living conditions are worse than
those of their parents. It is a problem that concerns
all of Europe. In addition, under the pretext of poor
economic conditions, governments are calling into
question fundamental rights, education, health and
labor law. This undermines democracy.'

Manuel Carvalho da Silva,
secretary general of the
General Confederation of
Portuguese Workers (CGTP)
on the November 24 general
strike in Portugal.
l'Humanite (France)
November 24, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/2cguex9

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/27hherv
Fan Dance
Tom Toles - Washington Post

TUESDAY

Quote of the Day
November 30, 2010

'Today's announcement of a two-year pay freeze for
federal workers is bad for the middle class, bad for
the economy and bad for business. No one is served by
our government participating in a "race to the bottom"
in wages. We need to invest in creating jobs, not
undermining the ones we have.  The President talked
about the need for shared sacrifice, but there's
nothing shared about Wall Street and CEOs making record
profits and bonuses while working people bear the
brunt. It is time to get our nation back on track, but
we should not do so by placing an even greater burden
on the middle class'

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka
November 29, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/277ogn4

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/2cm8vrd
You Better Watch Out
Jeff Danziger

WEDNESDAY

Quote of the Day
December 1, 2010

'...the main significance of the cables that are being
released so far is what they tell us about Western
leadership. So Hillary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu
surely know of the careful polls of Arab public
opinion. The Brookings Institute just a few months ago
released extensive polls of what Arabs think about
Iran. The results are rather striking. They show the
Arab opinion holds that the major threat in the region
is Israel- that's 80. The second major threat is the
United States- that's 77. Iran is listed as a threat by
10 percent.'

Political dissident and linguist
Noam Chomsky on the release of
more than 250,000 secret U.S. State
Department cables by WikiLeaks

Democracy Now!
November 30, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/2bkc7dz

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/39gopu8
Overrun
Dan Wasserman - Boston Globe

THURSDAY

Quote of the Day
December 2, 2010

"We'll put up decorations, but we just don't have the
money for a Christmas tree.'

Shawn Slonsky, a 44-year-old
union electrician and
father who is one of nearly
2 million Americans whose
extended unemployment benefits
will run out this month

Associated Press
December 1, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/35x9jkr

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/3yvt54a
The New Bi-partisanship
Tom Tomorrow - Salon

FRIDAY

Quote of the Day
December 3, 2010

'The White House, for the umpteenth time, has
approached a negotiation by signaling in advance its
willingness, if pushed to the wall, to make major
concessions - in this case, a temporary tax-cut
extension for the rich. It doesn't take a genius to
recognize this as a flawed bargaining strategy. Voters
may want more bipartisan cooperation in Washington, but
I believe they also want their president to fight for
the principles that got him elected.

'Democrats in Congress are all over the map. Speaker
Nancy Pelosi and the House leadership, predictably, are
ready to have a fight on what they see as favorable
political terrain. In the Senate, Democrats have to
parse the implications of a GOP threat to halt all
business until the tax cut issue is dealt with. And
everyone wonders whether the White House intends to
stand tough, or has decided to give in, or has already
caved - or, perhaps, has a specific preferred outcome
in mind. If so, the White House doesn't seem to have
made clear what the objective is, much less how to get
there.

'Power without purpose, in fact, doesn't get you
anywhere.'

Columnist Eugene Robinson
Washington Post
December 3, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/23nzkhw

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/282lsk2
Ransom
Ed Stein


SATURDAY

Quote of the Day
December 4, 2010

'The enemies of Social Security have pulled off one of
the greatest public relations scams in U.S. history.'

Economist Dean Baker
Center for Economic and Policy Research
December 1, 2010
http://tinyurl.com/2cjk6f9

Toon of the Day
http://tinyurl.com/2bz6hch
What Warming?
Mike Luckovich

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