WIST Quotations

Ivins, Molly -- Interview (2006-10-09), “Who’s It Screw, and Who’s Doing the Screwing?” by Rosalind Alexander, Seattle Weekly

Dave — Wed, 02 Sep 2026 16:42:46 +0000

I don’t think there was ever a time when money was not important in politics. The single most striking development in American politics is the extent to which money is so predominant that everything else including the public interest is insignificant.

Molly Ivins (1944–2007) American writer, political columnist [Mary Tyler Ivins]
Interview (2006-10-09), “Who’s It Screw, and Who’s Doing the Screwing?” by Rosalind Alexander, Seattle Weekly
(Source)

Adams, John -- Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas Jefferson

Dave — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 22:24:14 +0000

Your “ἄρiςτοi” [aristocrats] are the most difficult Animals to manage, of any thing in the whole Theory and practice of Government. They will not Suffer themselves to be governed. They not only exert all their own Subtilty Industry and courage, but they employ the Commonalty, to knock to pieces every Plan and Model that the most honest Architects in Legislation can invent to keep them within bounds.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1813-07-09) to Thomas Jefferson
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 17:11:55 +0000

The true friend of property, the true conservative, is he who insists that property shall be the servant and not the master of the commonwealth; who insists that the creature of man’s making shall be the servant and not the master of the man who made it. The citizens of the United States must effectively control the mighty commercial forces which they have called into being. There can be no effective control of corporations while their political activity remains. To put an end to it will be neither a short nor an easy task, but it can be done.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, statesman, conservationist, writer; US President (1901–09)
Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas
(Source)

Stanley, Jason -- How Propaganda Works, Introduction (2015)

Dave — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 16:12:52 +0000

Allegiance to the group identity forged by political party affiliation renders Americans blind to the essential similarities between the agendas of the two parties, similarities that can be expected to be exactly the ones that run counter to public interest, in other words, those interests of the deep-pocketed backers of elections to which any politician must be subservient in order to raise the kind of money necessary to run for national office.

Jason Stanley (b. 1969) American philosopher, epistemologist, academic
How Propaganda Works, Introduction (2015)
(Source)

Eisenhower, Dwight David -- “Farewell Address” (17 Jan 1961)

Dave — Tue, 10 May 2016 13:28:56 +0000

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

Dwight David Eisenhower (1890–1969) American general, US President (1953–61)
“Farewell Address” (17 Jan 1961)
(Source)

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:39:46 +0000

Now, this means that our government, national and State, must be freed from the sinister influence or control of special interests. Exactly as the special interests of cotton and slavery threatened our political integrity before the Civil War, so now the great special business interests too often control and corrupt the men and methods of government for their own profit. We must drive the special interests out of politics.

Roosevelt, Theodore -- Speech (1910-08-31), “The New Nationalism,” John Brown Memorial Park dedication, Osawatomie, Kansas

Dave — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:55:46 +0000

For every special interest is entitled to justice, but not one is entitled to a vote in Congress, to a voice on the bench, or to representation in any public office. The Constitution guarantees protections to property, and we must make that promise good. But it does not give the right of suffrage to any corporation.