Jay Parini Quotes

They don't make people like Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley anymore.

There are so many political talk shows out there that are doing such a good job that it would be foolish of me to try to get in the ring with them.

I follow politics, but I don't like to discuss it.

People recognize actors that they see regularly, like people they see on the television every week.

We're trying to build a platform utilizing the Internet that allows the good American people to speak out about their frustration about the polarized country that we live in politically.

I've been offered political shows before, and I don't know anything about politics and I feel uncomfortable making political opinions - there's consequences to them. I often think I'm wrong, so I really don't like getting in political or religious discussions because of the giant possibility that I might be wrong.

Our country's political discourse and debate are enriched by discussions of the political implications of our faith traditions, whether they are taking place in our communities, at our dinner tables, or in our places of worship.

Does politics have to be injected into everything?

I allowed Rick Santorum to express views and ideas that the American people never would have had expressed.

I made the mistake of writing something very, very short about Obama for this website that I write fiction for, and my father told me never do that again. And he was right. I have nothing to add to a political conversation because it's not my area.

I listened to Bill Bennett and tons of other talk show hosts who talked about that and other policies and started branching out and caring about other issues in regards to politics.

Maybe it's true that people with less extreme views who are also interested in public affairs have been driven out by a marketplace that doesn't offer them anything of the tone they want to listen to.

I loved politics and, I confess, I enjoyed politicians immensely.

It is weird. A lot of people try to ask me political questions. I'm not a politician.

Contrary to what everyone thinks, in my family, we didn't talk about politics at home.

I have some very personal feelings about politics, but I don't get into it because I do comedy already.

There's lots about politics I don't feel comfortable with. To talk about the politics of future ideas is impossible in soundbite form.

I do not believe that artists or actors and people should be out there like voicing their full-blown opinions on politics because, let's face it, at the end of the day, I'm not that smart of a guy.

I'm probably a Libertarian, if I had to put myself in any category. But you don't come out and talk about these things, for obvious reasons.

Effort should be made to see that the forum-type programs (the 'Today Show,' 'Meet the Press,' etc.) afford at least as much opportunity for supporters of the American system to participate as these programs do for those who attack it.

Avoid any specific discussion of public policy at public meetings.

Drama or comedy programming is still the surest way for advertisers to reach a mass audience. Once that changes, all bets are off.

Real political issues cannot be manufactured by the leaders of political parties. The real political issues of the day declare themselves, and come out of the depths of that deep which we call public opinion.

I don't believe the President of the United States should debate with anybody.

Many newspapers have become players as well as spectators in the political debate.