There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
Noam ChomskyRead
It cannot be too often stressed that Israel had no credible pretext for its 2008-9 attack on Gaza, with full U.S. support and illegally using U.S. weapons.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes that Israel lacked justified reasons for its military actions in Gaza, despite receiving U.S. backing.
Noam Chomsky asserts that Israel's 2008-9 military assault on Gaza cannot be justified, highlighting that it was supported by the United States and carried out using American weapons illegally. This statement critiques the complicity and responsibility of both nations in the conflict, challenging the narrative that portrays Israel's actions as defensible or necessary.
In practice
During a debate on foreign policy, one might use this quote to illustrate the complexities of international support in conflicts.
There is no plausible theory under which the record of the Pentagon Papers can be interpreted as relating to the national defense.
The 'free-floating intellectual' may occupy himself with problems because of their inherent interest and importance, perhaps to little effect.
If you're teaching today what you were teaching five years ago, either the field is dead or you are.
There are very few people who are going to look into the mirror and say, 'That person I see is a savage monster;' instead, they make up some construction that justifies what they do.
The Republican Party has become overwhelmingly so extreme that it's hardly a traditional political party anymore.
There is still much debate about whether torture has been effective in eliciting information - the assumption being, apparently, that if it is effective, then it may be justified.
Government is like an onion. To understand it, you have to peel through many different layers. Most outsiders never get beyond the first or second layer.
The organized workers of America, free in their industrial life, conscious partners in production, secure in their homes and enjoying a decent standard of living, will prove the finest bulwark against the intrusion of alien doctrines of government.
All of us can agree that we want government to work as well as possible, and we should all applaud efforts to improve it. But there is no escaping the divisive and essential questions: What is the purpose of the state, and whom does it serve?
The Koch brothers, through the expenditure of billions of dollars and the creation and support of dozens of extreme right organizations, have taken fringe extremist ideas and made them mainstream within the Republican Party.
[The Federal Convention] is really an assembly of demigods.
Here we are the way politics ought to be in America; the politics of happiness, the politics of purpose and the politics of joy.
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