"J. C. Watts is the only black member of the Republican Party in leadership. He's going to resign from Congress. He's been there seven and a half years. He's had enough. Nobody can believe it. Nobody in Washington can believe it. ... In an interview two days ago, Watts said, Here's the problem with Washington: "If you are explaining, you are losing." If you are explaining, you're losing. It's a bumper sticker culture. People have to get it like that, and if they don't, if it takes three seconds to make them understand, you're off their radar screen. Three seconds to understand, or you lose. This is our problem. Six years after this battle began, we're still explaining. We're still explaining and we are losing. They frame this as a massive battle to stop theft, to protect property. ... They extend copyrights perpetually. They don't get how that in itself is a form of theft. A theft of our common culture. We have failed in getting them to see what the issues here are and that's why we live in this place where a tradition speaks of freedom and their controls take it away."
React to this quote
More by Lawrence Lessig
See allResonant Thoughts
"Yet more and more of the youth of America are instinctively horrified at the way President Johnson avoided all constitutional procedures and slyly maneuvered us into an Asian war. There was no nationa…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"Identity is not an object; it is a process with addresses for all the different directions and dimensions i…"
— Lynn Margulis"Nothing is easier than to falsify the past. Lifeless instruction will do it. If you rob it of vitality, sti…"
— Woodrow Wilson"Thank you. Thank you very much. President Turner, thanks. Members of the Board of Trustees, Provost Ludden,…"
— George W. Bush"Sunni and Shia are the main schools in Islam, like Protestant and Catholic. … When you debate with the othe…"
— Ammar Nakshawani"Every day, this elected leader is called a dictator here, and we just accept it, and accept it. And this is…"
— Sean Penn"An atmosphere of extreme tension reigned during this period; it was necessary to act without mercy. I think…"
— Vyacheslav Molotov
Related Thinkers
Related Topics
Deep Dives
- George W. Bush on leadership
- Abraham Lincoln on leadership
- Adolf Hitler on leadership
- Jair Bolsonaro on leadership
- Hillary Clinton on leadership
- Donald Trump on leadership
- Benjamin Franklin on leadership
- George W. Bush on freedom
- George W. Bush on time
- George W. Bush on justice
- knowledge & Beauty
- knowledge & Change