Joe Wilson Quotes

Thank God for our form of government. The media won't let there be any cover-up.

The best defense against usurpatory government is an assertive citizenry.

We must remember that democracy works when given time to develop, mature and deliver. People must have access to information for informed debate. Government institutions must treat citizens fairly, and with dignity, while responding to their needs.

As far as the constitution allows me, I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.

Democracy must live as it thinks and think as it lives

Elections alone will never be enough to ensure good governance.

In the political system, we are a team; politics and bureaucracy, we are a team. The politicians, bureaucrats and the people, we are a team.

When the people's representatives have to go on record and vote, it transforms our country. It is a full recognition that we are in a state of war.

After Barack Obama won the 2008 presidential election, I was heartened to see him issue an Open Government Initiative on his first full day in office.

Democracy is not theater - it determines life and death!

Democracy needs support, and the best support for democracy comes from other democracies.

One of our most noble political tasks is to open up trust.

You need a certain standard of literacy, moral and ethical values, to be able to run a one man, one vote system.

In a democracy, citizens pass judgment on their government, and if they are kept in the dark about what their government is doing, they cannot be in a position to make well-grounded decisions.

Democratic elections alone do not remedy the crisis of confidence in government. Moreover, there is no viable justification for a democratic system in which public participation is limited to voting.

After all, I have spent the better part of my adult life insisting that government be open... that government be accessible... and that government be held accountable to people who voted us into office.

Obama has already rejected the bright sunlight of public knowledge, which is democracy's great disinfectant and cure.

We are a nation in which freedom is alive in the squares and streets, in the daily work of the communications media, in the open relationship between the governing and the governed.

One could always do more, faster and cleverer, but democracy has its own rhythm.

Open the way before the new government to prove that it is for serving the people.

Democracy has always been in crisis: democracy is all about practicing the art of bearable dissatisfaction. In democratic societies, people often complain about their leaders and their institutions. The gap between the ideal democracy and the existing one cannot be bridged.

Democracy is not about making speeches. It is about making committees work.

A government of, by and for the people is obligated to conduct the nation's business in a manner that respects dissent.

So I think democracy, in the long-term, in our countries will survive if it comes to be associated with leadership, will not survive if democracy plus media brings to us more and more followship rather than leadership.

If you present good government, then elections look after themselves.