Alex Pareene Quotes
The thing with 'The West Wing' is that the fantasy was legitimately better than the reality - these were smarter, better people than their real-life counterparts, working together at a better White House than the one we had.
Pareene, Alex. "The West Wing Delusion." Salon, 25 Jun. 2012.
The George W. Bush administration had a reelection coming up and this administration had raised opacity to a new high in American History.
In an ironic turn of the tables, Frank Kingdon, a staunch Roosevelt supporter wrote a book defending the President and used the phrase as a title, mocking the upper class hatred of FDR.
1st Earl of Beaconsfield
Played the President in the NBC Network West Wing
The Senator became an accomplished actor, and played many parts during his political career and after he retired from politics.
This is a very important historical and political quotation. First, notice that the Secretary of State was criticizing the policies of his President, a refreshingly honest statement, but one which would never be made after the 1950s. The criticism was not even mild but very heavy. A political opponent could not be more negative. Next consider that while the Secretary of State and almost all the experienced diplomats thought the President foolishly wrong and naive about the practicality of self-determination, by the end of the 20th century, virtually every country in the world, capitalist, communist, secular or religious, wealthy or impoverished, all see self-determination is a basic right of all nations. The President was on the right side of history and all the professional diplomats on most nations were on the wrong side. However, Secretary of Lansing was right about one thing. The quest for self-determination has caused a fearful toll of human lives—not thousands as Lansing predicted but millions. He was also right about another aspect—namely that the unit of self-determination can be confusing and contentious. For example, the French Canadians of Quebec want a great deal of self determination and autonomy, but they do not want to give the same right of self-determination to the Mohawk Indians in Quebec who want to govern themselves. There is a continuous dispute in Turkey where the Kurds claim the right of self-determination within Turkey. Turkey has literally dozens of minority groups. Does self-determination mean that each can have its own nation within what is Turkey. And what about the Native Americans in the United States? Nonetheless, Wilson’s general principle is approved by all while the details are often contentious.
Alex Pareene is an American writer and editor. He was the editor of the online news magazine Gawker.
