#washington

Washington was concerned that the soldiers coming to him from Massachusetts were too few and of too low quality. He was disappointed that the majority of the Massachusetts volunteers appeared to be thrill-seeking teenagers, British Army deserters and otherwise unemployed African Americans. Washington doubted that these volunteers would ever be able to stand up to the British. Much to Washington's surprise, the free black men soon proved to be exemplary soldiers. ↗

— C.L. Gammon

#revolution #washington #men

The only way I can describe the extent of my anxiety is to say that I felt as if I were pregnant with a rock. ↗

— Katharine Graham

#simile #strikes #washington-post #anxiety

Washington's all abstraction. It's about access to power and nothing else. I mean, I'm sure it's fun if you're living next door to Seinfeld, or To Wolfe, or Mike Bloomberg, but living next door to them isn't what New York is about, In Washington people literally talk about how many feet away from John Kerry's house their own house is. The neighborhoods are all so blah, the only thing that turns people on is proximity to power. It's a total fetish culture. People get this kind of orgasmic shiver when they tell you they sat next to Paul Wolfowitz at a conference or got invited to Grover Norquist's breakfast. ↗

— Jonathan Franzen

#freedom #humor #washington #freedom

Official motto of the White House economic team: Those who can, do. Those who can't, fantasize in the classroom, fail in Washington and then return to the Ivy Tower to train the next generation of egghead economic saboteurs. Life is good for left-wing academics. Everyone else pays dearly. ↗

— Michelle Malkin

#classroom #dearly #economic #else #everyone

I think, first of all, you know, Washington has a bad habit of a very short attention span. ↗

— Claire McCaskill

#attention span #bad #bad habit #first #first of all

I've been in Washington ever since 1981, trying to get out! ↗

— Pat Oliphant

#ever #get #i #out #since

People who leave Washington do so by way of the box... ballet or coffin. ↗

— Claiborne Pell

#box #coffin #leave #people #washington

But, look, Washington is a town that creates myths for its own existence and its own amusement, and I was a subject of myth, sort of like Grendel in Beowulf - you know, not seen very often but often talked about. ↗

— Karl Rove

#amusement #creates #existence #i #know

We (actors) don't really change the world. We reflect it... but Washington really changes the world. ↗

— Martin Sheen

#change the world #changes #really #reflect #washington

Healthy debate has been replaced by automatic sensors that eliminate the need for actual talking during a filibuster - a la 'Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.' Robust debate is necessary in a democratic society. Instead, our discourse has been relegated to media spin by expert entertainers. ↗

— Douglas Wilder

#automatic #been #debate #democratic #democratic society