Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Ari Melber

Thieves don't usually make good therapists.

I think politics is always about dialogue. I think journalism ranges from dialogue to monologue, and there are times when different poles are necessary.

Iowa is especially critical for underdog and cash-strapped campaigns, because the caucus system relies on grassroots organizing, enabling candidates with time for retail politicking to beat better-funded rivals. So underdogs usually seize on the state.

I've worked in government. I've worked in competitive New York litigation, I've worked as a writer and reporte..

If anything, the genuine human struggles in 'Sicko' raise questions about our society that run much deeper than what passes for political discourse today. Why does such a rich nation let people suffer and die without health care?

It's never a good sign when extremism becomes the norm.

One of the great things about 'The Cycle' is that we have a wide set of topics - news, culture, music, and sports - and every week, we have several authors of new books on, which often injects literature, history, technology, business, and science into our show as well.

My hope is to be a trusted utensil for viewers. Like, literally, 'That thing works. I can rely on that thing.'

It's hard to be a national punch line unless lots of voters have soured on you.

Confronting Republicans can definitely mobilize a disaffected Democratic base.

Republicans believe an obstructionist, do-nothing Congress will deny Obama momentum and keep their base energized.

It always rankled me - in law school and the legal profession - when lawyers would speak to each other in their own exclusive language.

Corporations, like nations, do not have friends. They have interests.

Tea Party adherents are actually more religion-driven and more anti-abortion than the party they are supposedly upending.

Historically, the most favorably viewed figure in any administration is the first lady, regardless of her husband's popularity. That is largely because first ladies avoid the political fray and are ritualistically presented as a warm, human presence in the White House.

I think the challenge for anyone in a visible industry, whether it's media, government, or political organizing, is to take serious criticism seriously and not to live in the shadows of the noise and the concern trolls.

Shareholders, of course, have every right to weigh in on whether (or how) they want a company to exercise political influence.

Obstruction takes time.

Obama's openness is a welcome change from his predecessor, who went all the way to the Supreme Court to hide the RSVP list for a single policy meeting. And transparency is intrinsically good, since in a democracy, very little government activity is legitimately secret.

Good lawyering is usually cerebral and impersonally. You can convince a judge with a mastery of facts, detail, and precedent - not a story from the gut about how you feel a certain way.

I started freelancing, writing op-eds and book reviews, one at a time. I then got the opportunity to write recurring freelance pieces for 'The Nation' magazine, focusing on how the Internet was changing politics.

Even George W. Bush, who as president pushed the boundaries of executive power, never proposed a statutory scheme to hold people indefinitely.

I don't look at ratings when they come out in the afternoon before the show because I'm focused on that day's show, but I do see the overall numbers.

Rick Ross has good beats, if some more questionable content.

News may not be very profitable anymore, but it sure is popular.

A precedent provides legal authority for an action precisely because it occurred before.

I get up with an old-school alarm clock.

Like any good lawyer, I'm going to maintain a confidentiality of advice offered in confidence.

Political operatives don't tend to be existentialists. They do know, however, that if a supporter doesn't vote, then his or her opinion does not make a sound - or a difference.

A louder government with less journalism does not enrich our democratic process.

Democracy functions better when donors push politicians to win campaigns based on their defining issues instead of using financial pressure for policy changes, favors, or special access.

Large majorities of voters support taxing millionaires and protecting social security.

When controversy calls, corporations can be far more responsive than politicians. The market votes every day, after all.

Only a few bloggers have the audience and credibility to effectively break stories, pressure the traditional media, incubate new ideas, or raise real money. These influential bloggers are usually sharp, opinionated, and focused on the world 'offline.' They refuse to view events through the solipsistic blinders of their own websites.

When I get serious criticism - if I get serious criticism - it's about how I'm thinking and engaging in a topic. I can't think of an example of someone saying, 'You're too nice.'

Obama can show that America's promise of equality not only means that anyone can reach the highest office in the land - it also means that everyone is equally subject to the law.

That's the problem with precedents. Even the extreme ones tend to get repeated.

From the Fourth Amendment to post-Watergate reforms to the national outcry when Bush's warrantless surveillance was revealed in 2005, the United States has a strong tradition of overseeing the government's power to spy on its citizens.

In campaigns, promises are usually treated skeptically. Past positions are viewed as the one reliable way to gauge a candidate's instincts.

Like any extraordinary power, surveillance provides temptations for abuse, such as tracking political opponents and journalists.

Obama must scrutinize and disassemble the post-Sept. 11 imperial presidency, even if he reduces his own power in the process.

When a government forcibly holds enough people indefinitely without trial, it evokes the kinds of raids, detention, and abuses of power associated with authoritarian states - or darker periods in American history.

The Bush administration opened several lines of attack against the rule of law and the integrity of an independent Justice Department. The scandals are so famous that they've been reduced to shorthand: Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, NSA, Attorneygate.

My favorite rappers are a lot of other people's favorite rappers. I love Jay Z, Kanye, 2Pac, Biggie, old Mos Def.

Hypocrites are more enraging than extremists, as every campaign operative knows.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid likes to reminisce about being an amateur boxer. But his Senate tenure has often looked like an endless rope-a-dope.

Here is one iron law of the Internet: a social network's emphasis on monetizing its product is directly proportional to its users' loss of privacy.

Of course, no one doubts McCain's personal tenacity, from braving torture to overcoming cancer. Yet plenty of nonpartisan observers doubt his credibility.

The modern GOP has perfected this cyclical deficit outrage ritual. Republicans run up the tab when they control the White House, then scream about deficits when Democrats win - insisting that 'serious reform' means cutting only Democratic budget priorities.

TV is still a 'push' medium - we are broadcasting into any home or business with basic cable, and depending on what's happening in the world, we have a wider audience, from news junkies to very sporadic viewers. On TV, you want your reporting to be valuable to that entire audience and be relevant.

The Tea Party movement's economic agenda is a matter of emphasis, not exclusion. This is not a single-issue group.

Anyone with a cursory knowledge of American history knows that unchecked spying undermines democracy and public trust.

Only in Washington can the pursuit of a conservative agenda, with centrist policies, be depicted as liberal reform.

Being an independent reporter with legal knowledge fits me better than being an attorney who is representing one side or one goal.

Tea Party sympathizers are more conservative on abortion policy than typical Republicans.

A healthy corporation acts on the interests of its stakeholders and customers.

Barack Obama was first elected after a period of profound failure by elite and government institutions, from finance to foreign policy to Hurricane Katrina, and his first term immediately and unapologetically enacted a flurry of government solutions.

Why do Tea Party backers oppose abortion at higher rates than their traditional GOP cohort? Religion.

The 'FISA Amendments Act' would gut the oversight system established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, which subjected domestic spying to review by a special intelligence court.

Obama won the presidency by running the first integrated three-screen campaign - reaching people directly via Internet, cell phones, and TV - with an authentic, complex style that resonated for voters sick of dark, deceitful, and divisive politics.