Bill Maher Quotes

The President had negotiated the League of Nations as a part of the treaty negotiations ending World War I. However, he could not sell the idea to the Republican controlled Senate and the treaty was never ratified. This was the death of the League of Nations, a predecessor organization to the United Nations. America had gone into a period of extreme isolationism which in many way enabled WWII to get started. After WWII, the nation did not make the same mistake and the establishment of the United Nations was ratified handily. President Truman, however, was a much better salesman than President Wilson had been, and perhaps more important, the Republicans and Congress had never been involved in the League of Nations negotiations, whereas Truman had involved them heavily in a bipartisan effort.

When he was booed by the crowd at an NAACP convention for his civil rights positions:

Simon Cameron had switched parties from Democrat to Republican. Lincoln said of him:

Mackey had taken a position that coincided with most Republicans and conservatives on the issue of CEO compensation. See {630245}. His opponent therefore assumed he was a Republican and called him such. This was his reply.

Most of the Republicans in the Senate, using the filibuster, blocked legislation making schools and streets safer by expanding the requirement for gun checking to keep mentally ill people and violent criminals from purchasing a gun. The legislation had been crafted by Republican and Democratic Senators and was supported by 90 percent of Americans including 80 percent of Republicans and the majority of hunters and gun owners. This was one of the rare instances where public opinion did not matter at all to the Congress, and while a majority of the Senators supported the legislation a significant minority was more in fear of the NRA and the Gun lobby than they were of the voters. To the Republican minority, the possibility of a mentally deranged, violent, convicted felon, should be allowed to buy a military style assault rifle or any other weapon at a gun show without anyone bothering to check his background was less desirable than requiring gun sellers to spend 3-5 minutes to check out the potential buyer.

Closest reference to this quote is during remarks at a Fundraiser for Gov. James R. Thompson, Jr., in Rosemont, Illinois August 12, 1986 where he said: “When [Jim O’Grady] was at the White House, Jim said to me, "The great Democratic Party of my father's and grandfather's time just doesn't exist anymore. Mr. President, I didn't leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me. That's why I switched parties." And I said, "Jim, join the crowd.”” http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=37732