--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The reason that last-ditch political…" description: "\"The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are conv..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/walter-kirn-2189_actor_the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-man_139067.jpg" --- # The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has… ![“The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are convinced that the voting public is, too. They count on outrage, thereby spreading numbness. They cherish the prospect of partisan fury, thereby…” quote by Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/walter-kirn-2189_actor_the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-man_139067.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/walter-kirn-2189_actor_the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-man_139067.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b6/walter-kirn-2189_actor_the-reason-that-last-ditch-political-man_139067.jpg) > “The reason that last-ditch political maneuvering has become business as usual in Washington is that the actors involved are drunk on blame and are convinced that the voting public is, too. They count on outrage, thereby spreading numbness. They cherish the prospect of partisan fury, thereby inspiring nonpartisan disgust.” [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Political actors exploit blame and outrage, creating a cycle that dulls public sensitivity and fuels partisan anger. **In simple terms:** Blame fuels endless political drama. Key Takeaway Seek truth beyond partisan outrage. Themes politics blame outreach public apathy Mood critical concerned Type analytical activist When to use this quote - news consumption - voting - community discussions - activism Key Concepts media studies psychology civic engagement Questions to Reflect On - How does outrage affect your political engagement? - What steps can reduce blame culture in politics? A Different Perspective Blame can also mobilize necessary reform; not all outrage is empty. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Actor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/actor/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Disgust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disgust/) [Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk/) [Fury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fury/) [Inspiring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspiring/) [Outrage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outrage/) [Partisan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/partisan/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Thereby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thereby/) [Voting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voting/) [Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/washington/) ## Related quotes > [Institutions are increasingly persuaded that political maneuvering is more important than scientific justification in securing federal funds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mildred-dresselhaus/institutions-are-increasingly-persuaded-that-political-maneuvering-is/) [Mildred Dresselhaus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mildred-dresselhaus/) > [I enjoyed the administrative work because it involved working with Congress, city council, and the mayor. I had never been a politician so it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-h-greene/i-enjoyed-the-administrative-work-because-it-involved-working-with/) [Harold H. Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-h-greene/) > [There's no way I can run a nonpartisan organization the same time I am running for Congress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-foster/there-s-no-way-i-can-run-a-nonpartisan-organization-the-same-time-i/) [Bill Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-foster/) > [Being the mayor of your hometown is the best job in America, partly because it's relatively nonpartisan - we focus on results, not ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-buttigieg/being-the-mayor-of-your-hometown-is-the-best-job-in-america-partly/) [Pete Buttigieg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-buttigieg/) > [It's time to elevate the debate in this country and allow the public to access the same neutral, unbiased, nonpartisan information that we in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-quigley/it-s-time-to-elevate-the-debate-in-this-country-and-allow-the-public/) [Mike Quigley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-quigley/) > [The CBO is part of an intricate web that has been woven that is designed to be an obstacle to Republican ideas and greased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-cbo-is-part-of-an-intricate-web-that-has-been-woven-that-is/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [In the chummy corridors of the liberal media establishment, no self-satisfying myth is more prevalent than the notion that there are two types of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-brent-bozell-iii/in-the-chummy-corridors-of-the-liberal-media-establishment-no-self/) L. Brent Bozell III > [We have a strong tradition in our country of senior leaders being apolitical, nonpartisan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-dunford/we-have-a-strong-tradition-in-our-country-of-senior-leaders-being/) [Joseph Dunford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-dunford/) > [My role in the business is to use my judgment. All these years of experience have given me a clear head, and I can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-nadar/my-role-in-the-business-is-to-use-my-judgment-all-these-years-of/) [Shiv Nadar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-nadar/) > [“Congressman Upton insisted that he hadn’t changed his position on environmental issues. But Jeremy Symons, then a senior vice president of the nonpartisan National…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-mayer/congressman-upton-insisted-that-he-hadn-t-changed-his-position-on/) [Jane Mayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-mayer/) > [I'll keep this as nonpartisan and diplomatic as possible - but for those of us whose heads are kind of spinning off and are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/june-diane-raphael/i-ll-keep-this-as-nonpartisan-and-diplomatic-as-possible-but-for/) [June Diane Raphael](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/june-diane-raphael/) > [Pragmatic and nonpartisan solutions will increase confidence in law enforcement and support good police while offering more transparency and accountability to citizens who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-hoover/pragmatic-and-nonpartisan-solutions-will-increase-confidence-in-law/) [Margaret Hoover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-hoover/) > [There's an ideological belief on the left that you should not use nonpartisan tools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-hilton/there-s-an-ideological-belief-on-the-left-that-you-should-not-use/) [Steve Hilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-hilton/) > [The way I look at it is, cancer research is absolutely nonpartisan. Cancer is very democratic in the sense that it attacks people regardless…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-h-koch/the-way-i-look-at-it-is-cancer-research-is-absolutely-nonpartisan/) [David H. Koch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-h-koch/) > [I plan on actually governing in a nonpartisan fashion because I think that 90% of the problems we face are nonpartisan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-e-james/i-plan-on-actually-governing-in-a-nonpartisan-fashion-because-i-think/) [John E. James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-e-james/) ## More by Walter Kirn > [Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it's someone else's witch being hunted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/everyone-loves-a-witch-hunt-as-long-as-it-s-someone-else-s-witch/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“I just wasn't ready for his stories. They'd breed with the others I'd heard and hatch new monsters, because there was no such thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-just-wasn-t-ready-for-his-stories-they-d-breed-with-the-others-i-d/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [It's no accident that most self-help groups use 'anonymous' in their names; to Americans, the first step toward redemption is a ritual wiping out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/it-s-no-accident-that-most-self-help-groups-use-anonymous-in-their/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“For time to pass it would have to go somewhere, and where would that be? Time sits. We move, it sits. 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That's a savage person who looks at everything as a story and, you know,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/there-are-two-sides-to-me-one-is-the-writer-that-s-a-savage-person/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was eighteen, I was in Florence and there were all these eighteen, nineteen,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-remember-the-first-time-i-went-to-italy-when-i-was-eighteen-i-was/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Quiet cunning bested boastful brawn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/quiet-cunning-bested-boastful-brawn/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [The idea that Americans favor politicians who either remind them of themselves or can imagine what their selves are like because they too have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/the-idea-that-americans-favor-politicians-who-either-remind-them-of/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Our habit of wishing backward from what is to what might have been is the soft but persistent tapping that cracks the crystal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/our-habit-of-wishing-backward-from-what-is-to-what-might-have-been-is/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Memo to extreme partisans: If you can't bring yourselves to love your enemies, can you at least learn to hate your friends?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/memo-to-extreme-partisans-if-you-can-t-bring-yourselves-to-love-your/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [People can be so neglectful of each other and of their own heritage - then death intrudes. Conversations we wish that we'd had earlier…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/people-can-be-so-neglectful-of-each-other-and-of-their-own-heritage/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [I'd assumed that a deal was a deal when Princeton admitted me, but I was wrong. The price of getting in - to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/i-d-assumed-that-a-deal-was-a-deal-when-princeton-admitted-me-but-i/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Meanness on request isn't meanness at all, but kindness carried too far.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/meanness-on-request-isn-t-meanness-at-all-but-kindness-carried-too-far/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [“Liars are exhausting people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/liars-are-exhausting-people/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) [Explore all 177 Walter Kirn quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) ## More Actor quotes > [I actually think acting is a form of self-hypnosis. You have to be hyper, hyper aware of what's going on around you. 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I've been getting away with it ever since.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/akshay-kumar/i-once-told-someone-i-could-act-they-totally-bought-it-i-ve-been/) [Akshay Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/akshay-kumar/) > [There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adeel-akhtar/there-has-got-to-be-a-way-for-me-to-have-a-role-on-tv-or-in-film-that/) [Adeel Akhtar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adeel-akhtar/) > [I love casting against type and doing things you wouldn't expect, because I think you get more interesting performances that way. Hollywood loves to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-s-goyer/i-love-casting-against-type-and-doing-things-you-wouldn-t-expect/) [David S. 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In the meantime, I did my first…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ana-de-armas/when-i-was-13-i-auditioned-for-the-theater-school-and-i-was-there-for/) [Ana de Armas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ana-de-armas/) > [If you stood me in a costume next to a computer graphic of the same-looking character, I think there would be a difference. 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