“Conservatives — or better, pro-corporate apologists — hijacked the vocabulary of Jeffersonian liberalism and turned words like "progress," "opportunity," and "individualism" into tools for making the plunder of America sound like divine right … This "degenerate and unlovely age," as one historian calls it, exists in the mind of Karl Rove — the reputed brain of George W. Bush — as the seminal age of inspiration for politics and governance of America today.”

—  Bill Moyers

Speech to the "Take Back America" Conference (10 June 2003) http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/~wjs/BillMoyersSpeech.htm; "Degenerate and unlovely age" is a quotation from Charles Eliot Norton

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Conservatives — or better, pro-corporate apologists — hijacked the vocabulary of Jeffersonian liberalism and turned wor…" by Bill Moyers?
Bill Moyers photo
Bill Moyers 34
American journalist 1934

Related quotes

Jonah Goldberg photo

“[W]hat makes a libertarian in America a “right-winger” makes him a “liberal” in most of Europe.”

Jonah Goldberg (1969) American political writer and pundit

2010s, 2018, Socialism is So Hot Right Now (2018)

Ilana Mercer photo

“We do know. We can say for sure. And we have all the documents. George W. Bush lied America into war.”

Ilana Mercer South African writer

"Trump called Bush a liar & he won South Carolina (Nevada, too)," http://www.unz.com/imercer/trump-called-bush-a-liar-he-won-south-carolina-nevada-too/ The Unz Review, February 27, 2016.
2010s, 2016

Ani DiFranco photo

“And we hold these truths to be self-evident:
Number one-- George W. Bush is not president.
Number two-- America is not a true democracy.
And, Number three-- the media is not fooling me.”

Ani DiFranco (1970) musician and activist

Self-Evident
Song lyrics

Philip Roth photo

“I found much that was alarming about being a citizen during the tenures of Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. But, whatever I may have seen as their limitations of character or intellect, neither was anything like as humanly impoverished as Trump is: ignorant of government, of history, of science, of philosophy, of art, incapable of expressing or recognizing subtlety or nuance, destitute of all decency, and wielding a vocabulary of seventy-seven words that is better called Jerkish than English.”

Philip Roth (1933–2018) American novelist

As quoted in "Roth on Trump" by Judith Thurman, in The New Yorker (30 January 2017), p. 17

Barack Obama photo

“There's not a liberal America and a conservative America - there's the United States of America.”

Barack Obama (1961) 44th President of the United States of America

2015, State of the Union Address (January 2015)
Context: You know, just over a decade ago, I gave a speech in Boston where I said there wasn’t a liberal America or a conservative America; a black America or a white America -- but a United States of America.



Context: There is not a liberal America and a conservative America — there is the United States of America. There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America — there's the United States of America.

Herman Cain photo

“!--I'm talking about the liberals. They don't have but three tactics, they don't have a strategy. They have an objective.-->The objective of the liberals is to destroy this country. The objective of the liberals is to make America mediocre like everybody else who aspire to be like America. That's their objective. And so the liberals they have an objective: destroy America, make it mediocre, become part of what they call this world order stuff.”

Herman Cain (1945) American writer, businessman and activist
Dinesh D'Souza photo

“The [George W. ] Bush administration and the conservatives must stop promoting American popular culture because it is producing a blowback of Muslim rage. With a few exceptions, the right should not bother to defend American movies, music, and television. From the point of view of traditional values, they are indefensible. Moreover, why should the right stand up for the left's debased values? Why should our people defend their America? Rather, American conservatives should join the Muslims and others in condemning the global moral degeneracy that is produced by liberal values.”

Dinesh D'Souza (1961) Indian-American political commentator, filmmaker, author

Introduction, p. 26
Books, The Enemy At Home: The Cultural Left And its Responsibility for 9, 11 (2007)

Jay Leno photo

“Folks, tomorrow America will get to hear those four words we've been waiting for: "Former president George Bush."”

Jay Leno (1950) American comedian, actor, writer, producer, voice actor and television host

Monologue, 19 January, 2009
The Tonight Show

Nelson Mandela photo

“You will notice that France, Germany, Russia, China are against this decision. It is clearly a decision that is motivated by George W. Bush's desire to please the arms and oil industries in the United States of America. If you look at those factors, you'll see that an individual like myself, a man who has lost power and influence, can never be a suitable mediator.”

Nelson Mandela (1918–2013) President of South Africa, anti-apartheid activist

2000s, Newsweek interview (2002)

Michael Moore photo

“I would like to apologize for referring to George W. Bush as a "deserter." What I meant to say is that George W. Bush is a deserter, an election thief, a drunk driver, a WMD liar, and a functional illiterate. And he poops his pants.”

Michael Moore (1954) American filmmaker, author, social critic, and liberal activist

2004

Related topics