Bill Moyers is better than sex (not that I would know anything about that!)

And, here's why:
"It's an old story: the greater the secrecy, the deeper the corruption." That quote is from a speech Bill Moyers (original host of PBS's Now and current host of the Bill Moyers Journal) gave to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Out of all the wonderful things he has said and written over his long and illustrious career, I hope that this quote will be the one people will remember him most by. It so perfectly sums up what this man opposes just by being Bill Moyers; there will always be forces that seek to profit at the expense of the many (like the current Administration) and they will employ as many means at their disposal to ensure that those victimized by corruption never hear about it until it is too late. It will always come down to people like Mr. Moyers, Michael Moore, Ralph Nader, Jane Hamsher, Amy Goodman, and other like-minded people to ensure they don't get away with it.

While I'm at it, here's the other quote of the day:
"Real news is the news you and I need to keep our freedoms." --Richard Reeves, responding to a student who asked him to define real news. He's cool like Bill Moyers, only people don't know as much about him. When you get a chance, you really should read his books about John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan.

Okay, while on the subject of great journalists, I now present links to a two part PBS special on Peter Zuckerman's reporting on pedophilia in the local Boy Scout troop, and how it got him in trouble with some of the locals. Part one is here and part two is over here. Just because it's the right thing to do, doesn't mean everyone else appreciates you airing their dirty laundry. Again, "the greater the secrecy, the greater the corruption." Truer words in this context you would be hard pressed to find.

Edit: Oh yeah, in case you're wondering what the title is supposed to be referencing, you must be one of those people who checks out Rotten Tomatoes for movie reviews, and has no idea what Spill.com is. Check it out, it's good for a laugh (Warning: May not be safe for work!)

And now for something completely different

More quotes.

"In long-term care, love matters. And the heart of the problem is institutions can't love." --Dr. Bill Thomas, nursing home reformer credited with inventing the Eden Alternative in long-term care. He said this while being interviewed on PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer about a new proposal called the Green House initiative that I mentioned in a previous post.


"We have a problem in politics in the United States -- we tend to talk with people who already agree with us." --Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, talking with Bill Moyers on the Bill Moyers Journal. I hope that after the horse race that is Election 2008 is over that whoever becomes the next president of the United States makes some serious effort - however Sisyphean - to reach out to those with radically different personal and political philosophies. This era of hyper-partisanship has gone on way too goddamned long, and it is time for a new era of bipartisanship that lasts 40 years (like the last one) or longer.

Oh yeah, and dada rules! Seriously, if you've never heard any of their songs, you have no idea what you're missing. Take a gander at their website, and have a listen to some of their tracks while you're there. You won't regret it.