Michael Kinsley Quotes

Any time the country is split 50/50, the leader is wrong.

In every free and deliberating society, there must, from the nature of man, be opposite parties, and violent dissentions and discords; and one of these, for the most part, must prevail over the other for a longer or shorter time.

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule-- and both commonly succeed, and are right.

Politics presents few win-win situations for partisans on either side.

South Africa is highly politicised; even small issues become politicised, and it becomes quite bitter.

A healthy degree of party unity among Democrats and Republicans has deteriorated into bitter partisan warfare.

We are on the precipice of a crisis, a Constitutional crisis. The checks and balances, which have been at the core of this Republic, are about to be evaporated by the nuclear option. The checks and balances that say if you get 51% of the vote, you don't get your way 100% of the time. It is amazing, it's almost a temper tantrum.

Washington has, with some justification, gained a reputation for being hopelessly mired in partisan gridlock.

In terms of the history of a far reaching movement, 20 years is not that long.

It's counterintuitive, but the most divisive arrangement is when the same party controls both Congress and the presidency, a situation encountered in eight of the past 10 years. With government unified under a single party, the minority has the least possible incentive to cooperate with the majority.

Yes, in the commercial world there's room for both McDonald's and Whole Foods, but in the realm of politics, we're told, it's either Filet-o-Fish or line-caught salmon: only one can prevail - and which is up to you.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

Sides are being divided now. It's very obvious. So if you're on the other side of the fence, you're suddenly anti-American. It's breeding fear of being on the wrong side.

When elected officials and others contribute to a climate and culture that fosters hyper-partisanship, we've got to blow the whistle.

The purpose of the minority is to become the majority.

At root, the Tea Party is nothing more than a them-versus-us thing.

Bipartisanship has taken us to the brink of bankruptcy. We don't need bipartisanship, we need application of principle... Where was the call for bipartisanship during the Obamacare debate? Not a single Republican voted for it. It wasn't about bipartisanship, it was about having the votes to dictate your will.

Dogmatic ideological parties tend to splinter the political and social fabric of a nation.

If right and left are competing to be the biggest victim, who is competing to be the government?

The government in Turkey, which represents the powerful, traditionalist mass, is very comfortable creating policies tailored only for their supporters.

A pure democracy can admit no cure for the mischiefs of faction. A common passion or interest will be felt by a majority, and there is nothing to check the inducements to sacrifice the weaker party

Minorities…are almost always in the right.

I wouldn’t be too serious about bipartisanship. It’s a great myth that ought to be fostered. And don’t bring too damn much scholarship to bear on it. You’ll prove it out of existence if you’re not careful.

There are but two parties. There never have been but two parties ... founded in the radical question, whether people or property shall govern?

It is dangerous to permit conscienceless party politics to proceed to a point which does not hesitate to drag foreign politics and relations to a point with a great neighboring country into the vortex of partisan strife.