Top 99 Quotes & Sayings by Ari Melber - Page 2

If you would have said, in law school, would it be more likely that I would be working on a book or on a TV show, I would have said book.

While 'Django Unchained' presents a morally stark universe, where people do and say evil things with no remorse, it also luxuriates in the license that such evil provides.

The first rule of hip-hop is probably keep it real. And that can mean a lot of different things, but that's certainly important in reporting and storytelling.

There's a lot of hip-hop that's oriented toward a progressive view of America because it's oriented toward a civil rights progress and a critique of the power structure.

Iowa has long been heralded as a bulwark against the money and media that dominate the modern presidential race. Its caucus requires voters in every precinct to actually gather in a room, at one time, and listen to neighbors pitch their chosen candidates, before they are allowed to vote.

I was more interested in journalism and fact-finding than other things, so I didn't plan to work 30 years as a lawyer.

The first-in-the-nation Iowa caucus is crucial for every presidential campaign.

Washington is deeply frustrating because so many of the positions that politicians hold are a product of ephemeral self-interest. They reverse themselves, for themselves, all the time.

President Obama does not usually accuse Republicans of being too hawkish.

In American politics, there's a recurring fantasy, nurtured by the press, about 'courageous' politicians who do the right thing against their political interest. But really, isn't it even more encouraging when the right thing has just become good politics?

Younger viewers have a very strong detector for what's real and legit and what's phony or pandering.

There's a great deal of enthusiasm about quality, serious journalism. And some of it relates to personalities because it's people who do the news. But I think it reflects a real desire for facts, real news and reporting.

'House of Cards' is full of hypocrites, some ashamed, many proud. There is no silver lining here, no appeal to a just system that is temporarily thwarted by corrupting forces.

Law and politics are often overly complicated because there are people that don't want the rest of us to know what's going on.

Honestly, anchoring the news on a nightly basis is the hardest job I've ever taken on.

I remember buying The Fugees' 'The Score' my freshman year and feeling like this whole new world and this whole new conversation was opening up to me.

TV ads are great for broadcasting, but voter turnout is about narrow-casting. And not all messengers are created equal.

Politics has certainly changed a lot in an era of micro-targeting, Super PACs, and Twitter.

My job is to be accurate and clear.

The press is always more comfortable with factual determinations than moral ones, although in day-to-day life, a lot of people care a heck of a lot more about morality than every precise actual fact.

In politics, your opponent can be far more important than your vision.

'House of Cards' is aiming for truth, not accuracy.

The Dream Act and the DISCLOSE Act, to name two, had majorities in both chambers during Obama's first term, but they were filibustered to death. They probably await a similar fate unless the filibuster is reformed.

TV can keep you honest because the viewers really do listen. People who have succeeded in this have shown the audience how hard they work and that their reporting is really worthwhile.

The Trump administration has struggled with ethics vetting for Cabinet nominees and faced criticism for the president's decision to remain invested in his business empire.

I would love to get Chief Justice John Roberts for an interview. I think that would be fascinating, I think that Supreme Court nominees should do more interviews.

Many candidates use a political autobiography to sell their candidacy.

Navigating a battle between partisan, progressive organizing and decentralized petition drives is, at bottom, like trying to choose between the Democratic Party and democracy. The ideas are on different planes.

I do listen to Drake.

I think hip-hop has always been political because this is a community that doesn't have any other choice.

As every newspaper reader, liberal activist, or parliamentary junkie knows, the overarching barrier to most of Obama's agenda is the abuse of the filibuster in the Senate. In fact, several of Obama's second term priorities are not ideas in search of a majority - they are majorities in search of an up-or-down vote.

I feel like I'm totally me, and I feel like the show reflects my intensity, my vibe, and my search for evidence and answers.

The president's powers are always open to being questioned by the co-equal branches of government.

Progressive bloggers should not only write on behalf of the members of America's underclass but also empower them to join the discussion.

I got some experience appearing as a guest on several news channels, and I thought over the years I would be able to mix practicing law and writing with providing analysis on TV. I didn't know that would lead to a full-time opportunity that would take me away from my law practice. When MSNBC made me an offer to join, I jumped at it.

There are a lot of things that people learn and live through culture first, and politics comes afterward.

Companies like YouTube will continue to be tested on their commitment to the mission that made them such popular and profitable websites - providing an open platform to a wide range of ideas from around the world.

The Obama campaign has adeptly used YouTube and social networks as a relatively thrifty way to do targeted messaging.

If you believe in democracy, you accept, by definition, the existence and triumph of opposing ideas. The people who believe deeply in the Internet's force as a commons operate on that kind of premise.