John Avlon Quotes

Palin, Limbaugh, Glenn Beck and others have made an art form of convincing far too many Americans to suspend their disbelief, and they have severely damaged the ability of our country to have serious discussions about serious challenges.

Whether you are liberal or conservative, people seem to know the talking points for whatever the issue of the day is. Very rarely does it seem like these are opinions that people are coming up with themselves; it's like they watched the right cable news channel, and now they know what they are supposed to think, and they repeat that.

To join in the political fray, I don't think it convinces anyone. It just becomes a talking point on CNN.

Mainstream media tend to just mouth the conventional wisdom, to see everything through the filter of right and left.

I've been interested in watching the level of conservative misinformation that circulates through the media.

If journalism is the first draft of history, then talk radio provides an early glimpse into how the meaning of political events will be spun for ideological and partisan purposes.

Political rhetoric leads only to confusion.

The thing that sustains a strong Fox network is the thing that undermines a strong Republican party.

I don't think what you hear on talk radio is representative of America.

Perceptions are essential in politics.

The polls and the pundits and the media seem to talk to each other. It's sort of like an echo chamber.

So much of what we get on our news debate shows is really people spinning one way or the other, giving their talking points one way or the other.

Conservative talkers love to throw numbers around: their ratings and their audience size. And to be sure, they have a sizable audience which numbers in the tens of millions. But having people tune in and being able to dictate their actions are two different things.

What I don't like is talking points.

Politicians are just Daily Mail journalists writ large, aren't they? They're always telling us what's going to happen, and we know they don't know!

I respect Rush Limbaugh; he is a national conservative leader, and in no way do I want to diminish his voice.

American media has just become talk radio, incredibly partisan name-calling and op-eds.

Half a truth is better than no politics.

Democrats were simply hoping to win some political points by getting their outlandish rhetoric published in the newspapers and heard on the talk shows.

Well it's really hard to satisfy the right wing. I can tell you that.

Anybody who tunes into Rush Limabaugh already knows what he's going to say and is already inclined to agree. So it winds up creating tribes.

Political debate with liberals is basically impossible in America today because liberals are calling names while conservatives are trying to make arguments.

Our politicians don't say anything anymore: they just refute and assert.

We're in a kind of vicious cycle where the media tell the politicians, and the politicians tell the people, that perception is reality, and the perception of saving dooms a politician. I don't believe perception is reality, or that all Americans think that.

I mean, look, we're living in a country where you can't have a non-denominational response. If you're slightly critical of either party, all of the partisans jump on you like you're a lunatic.