The reason to drive this point home with a vivid and frank comparison is many New Yorkers are still not confronting the reality of how serious our crisis is. It was an exhortation to face reality.
It sucks. I used to be governor of New York.
From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much – the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry that I did not live up to what was expected of me.
I believe in an evolving Constitution. A flexible Constitution leaves room for us to consider not merely how the world once was, but how it ought to be.
Jimmy Carter laid out policies that we now look back at and say, ‘Gee, that actually made sense.’ But you also need to explain it and convey and communicate in a way that provides that tableau, that understanding.
Power must be used, but it must be tempered by soul-searching and the recognition of our human capacity for error. That is the maxim that should inform our approach to every challenge, from reforming state government to engaging in foreign affairs.
After 25-plus years as a lawyer, prosecutor, and defense attorney, I have developed a deep appreciation for both the wisdom of the law and the role that jurists play in framing the rights and responsibilities that define our society.
While their fiscal views aren’t mine, the moderates are the last reasonable voice in the current Republican Party.
The pace of global warming is accelerating and the scale of the impact is devastating. The time for action is limited – we are approaching a tipping point beyond which the opportunity to reverse the damage of CO2 emissions will disappear.
Some say that I should settle down, go slower and not push so hard, so quickly for such transformational change. To them, I say that you misunderstand the size of the problems we face, the strength of the status quo and the urgency of the people’s desire for change.
The world has conducted a massive macro-economic experiment since the cataclysm of 2008. In Europe, the fans of austerity have had their chance, and the results have been a disaster.
I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself.
Why does it have to be politics? Is there a dynamism to that world and a theoretical capacity to do things that draws many talented people? Absolutely. Are there other ways to be involved and lead an interesting life? Of course.
A year is an eternity in politics – though less than a moment in history.
Companies that pollute should be taxed so that a product’s cost to society is reflected in the price of that product.
I don’t like politicians who vacillate.
Our criminal justice system is fallible. We know it, even though we don’t like to admit it. It is fallible despite the best efforts of most within it to do justice. And this fallibility is, at the end of the day, the most compelling, persuasive, and winning argument against a death penalty.
I do not believe that politics in the long run is about individuals. It is about ideas.
When you’re in office, there are tangible moments when you can see tangible successes.
To every New Yorker – and to all those who believed in what I tried to stand for – I sincerely apologize.