Thursday, May 24, 2012

DC-Mentality As Seen by Lee Atwater


Lee Atwater (1951-1991), known as a brutal, consummate political strategist and hardball Republican National Committee chair, became a repentant believer and foe of “DC-mentality” before he died of brain cancer.  Before he died, he said, “I acquired more [wealth, power, and prestige] than most.  But you can acquire all you want, and still feel empty. It took a deadly illness to put me eye to eye with that truth, but it is a truth that the country, caught up in its ruthless ambitions and moral decay, can learn on my dime. [The leaders of the ‘90s must] speak to the spiritual vacuum at the heart of American society. . . . What is missing in society is what was missing in me: a little heart.”

--from A Cup of Coffee at the Soul Café by Leonard Sweet, p. 19

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